Health Officials: Risk of MERS Spreading to CA “Very Low”

FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ) — The risk of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome spreading into the Golden State is very low, according to California Department of Public Health.

The deadly virus has killed sixteen people in South Korea, and has affected dozens of others, in what’s the largest outbreak outside the Middle East.

Two people contracted MERS last year here in the U.S., after they were exposed in Saudi Arabia.

More than 60 people have been tested in California over the past two years, but all were negative.

MERS does not spread easily, although most people become infected in crowded hospitals.