Korea's health ministry convenes special meeting on Zika virus prevention strategy

방역당국 "현재 지카바이러스 국내전파 가능성 희박" The Zika virus is raising alarms here in Asia as well,... with one case having been confirmed in Indonesia. Now let's connect with Our Han Da-eun at Arirang News Center to hear about how the Korean government is handling this situation. Da-eun Good afternoon Mark. The Korean health ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened a special meeting this morning,... to assess the level of the threat posed by the Zika virus here in the nation... and to begin developing preventative measures. The participants included... Health Minister Chung Chin-youb , top officials from the Korean CDC,... as well as a group of medical experts including Professor Song Young-ku of Yonsei University. As you know Mark, the MERS outbreak rattled Korea last summer and it exposed some of the CDC's weaknesses. So officials really seem determined to swiftly come up with effective measures to prevent the Zika virus from entering the country. Da-eun, so what are experts saying about the possibility of the virus actually entering the country? Mark, there's some relief on the horizon. Officials and medical experts say the possibility of the Zika virus spreading in Korea looks highly unlikely,... as long as citizens follow the government's prevention advice and avoid visiting countries with confirmed cases. Officials also advised people returning home from those countries to inform the quarantine department and visit their nearest medical clinic for a test. And Mark, they also added that the current cold spell in Korea will help prevent the virus from entering the country, as the Zika virus is mostly transmitted by mosquitoes. Back to you. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS):   / newsarirang   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld