Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) are urging the public to avoid drinking camel urine or milk while the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak is still ongoing.
"Food hygiene practices should be observed. People should avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine, or eating meat that has not been properly cooked," said the guidelines for handling MERS, which WHO posted on its website.
The disease, which already caused the deaths of at least 10 people in South Korea, also lead to the closing of schools and the voluntary quarantine of some individuals this week. The South Korean government, however, is hopeful that the virus will be contained by the weekend.
WHO stated further in its guidelines that "until more is understood about MERS-CoV, people with diabetes, renal failure, chronic lung disease and immunocompromised persons are considered to be at high risk of severe disease from MERS‐CoV infection."
Also, people who are in constant and close contact with animals, such as camels, should observe proper hygiene, like hand-washing, before and after dealing with them.
First identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, the disease is believed to have spread to South Korea in May because of a 68-year-old businessman who traveled from the Middle East, according to Express.
In this region, camels are a critical part of the livelihood and lifestyle, and drinking its urine and milk is common, as it is known to have healing properties, according to Vice. While not a lot of research has been done to determine the origin and transfer of MERS, camel traders may have unwittingly caused the spread of the disease to the rest of the human population.
Since 2012, WHO has documented 1,190 cases of MERS and said 440 people died from the disease.
