Dr Gounalan Pavade of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) explains why it is important to understand the link between human and animal infections with MERS-CoV, and OIE’s role in clarifying this process.

The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean hosted a training workshop in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 23 to 25 October 2018. The workshop focused on establishing a global pool of experts on Middle East respiratory syndrome, to build on regional MERS expertise and knowledge and to establish a pool of rapidly deployable experts who can respond to any future MERS outbreaks in the Region and beyond.