JAMA: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome: A Global Health Challenge
Lawrence O. Gostin of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and Daniel Lucey of the Georgetown University School of Medicine

“…A critical lesson from SARS, Ebola, and now MERS is that health settings can amplify transmission risks. Historically, health settings have exposed patients and visitors due to close contact that facilitates spread of respiratory tract secretions and infected body fluids, as well as health workers who have not employed personal protective equipment. However, a well-trained and well-prepared health workforce — both health care and public health — usually can rapidly bring outbreaks under control. The International Health Regulations require all states to build core capacities, including diagnosis, treatment, laboratories, contact tracing, isolation, and humane forms of quarantine. Fully funding and implementing that international obligation offers the best assurance of global health security…” (6/17).