WHO Sees No Need for Travel Curbs over MERS Outbreak

The news came as South Korea's health ministry reported on Friday that a 72-year-old woman had died at a hospital south of Seoul.

Four new cases of the MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, virus were also reported, bringing the total to 126, the world's largest outbreak outside of Saudi Arabia.

One case was reported from China.

Alison Clements-Hunt, WHO's spokesperson in Manila, told Al Jazeera most cases of MERS had been limited to healthcare facilities, where patients carrying the virus came in direct or close contact with another person.

"Unless you have close contact, it is unlikely that you will catch MERS. That's why it passes in healthcare facilities, because it tends to be in close contact," she said.

"The World Health Organization does not recommend a travel ban," Hunt said, adding that it does not "actively recommend screening measures" at airports either.

What is advisable, she said, is that the government should have the ability to identify if travellers come from a country where MERS is "actively circulating", and determining if the passengers have come in close contact with a person carrying the virus, Al Jazeera reported.

"Obviously if someone is sick, travels with a virus and has to go into a healthcare facility in another country, that's where we are seeing the clusters [of cases]. Most of the [cases] we see are in healthcare facilities. They are not out in in the general population."

The WHO regional office, which covers many Asia-Pacific countries, is based in Manila.

Hunt also said that there is "no evidence" at the moment that the MERS virus is airborne.

"Evidence to date is that it spreads like droplets. So that's why it needs a relatively close contact in order to spread," she said.

According to the WHO, MERS is a "zoonotic" virus that is transmitted from animals to humans.