In the wake of 35 documented cases – including two deaths – of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, Cambodian Ministry of Health officials are warning Cambodian migrant workers there about the risk.

Through its Facebook page, the Ministry of Health warned Cambodians currently in Korea and the Middle East, or those in contact with people who have just returned from either place, of the dangers of the communicable disease.

“Please be careful; if you have a fever over 38 degrees Celsius and diarrhoea, you should rush to the hospital or a medical clinic,” Health Ministry spokesman Ly Sovann said yesterday. “Workers in Korea should wear face masks, and not touch patients who contracted the illness.”

No one in Cambodia is suspected of contracting MERS, Sovann said. There are currently 2,000 health officials charged with surveillance of the disease in the Kingdom.

MERS is a sometimes fatal respiratory disease that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Other countries in the Middle East region that have experienced outbreaks of it include Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.