Abstract: China confirmed the first imported case of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) recently. The patient is an adult male from South Korea. His condition has drawn intense attention in China. Meanwhile, suspected case of second generation human-to-human transmission has been found in South Korea. Global health system has pay close attention to the outbreak of MERS. This article is to give a brief introduction to MERS based on its etiology characteristics, and also discuss the differences between MERS and SARS.

Key words: Middle East respiratory syndrome, MERS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, coronavirus