While a local media report claimed that Thailand’s first case of MERS had been detected in the country, the Prime Minister and Public Health Minister said that no case had been confirmed.

Public Health England have instructed travellers, particularly those with underlying or chronic medical conditions, to avoid camels in the Middle East, and has put out a flash alert to healthcare professionals warning about the virus.

Middle East respiratory syndrome has killed 23 people and sickened more than 160 in the past month in South Korea, in the biggest outbreak outside the region where it was first seen in 2012.

But there have been signs that the outbreak, the largest outside of Saudi Arabia, may be slowing in South Korea. A total of 165 people have been infected and 6,700 people are in quarantine. The daily number of new cases has dropped to single digits this week compared to as many as 23 last week. Since then 1,333 cases have been reported from 26 countries.

Thailand’s Disease Control Department said it was also screening in-bound travelers as a preemptive step to impede the transmission of the virus, reported Reuters news agency.

A thermal camera monitor shows the body temperature of passengers arriving from overseas against possible MERS infection at Incheon worldwide Airport, South Korea. He suggested everyone to strictly adhere to sanitary practices during this period and refrain from traveling to the Middle East and South Korea, where MERS outbreaks are taking place.