Haj pilgrims advised not to visit camel farms to avoid MERS-CoV infection

Haj pilgrims, who will be leaving for the Holy Land next month, are advised not to visit any camel farms to prevent themselves from being infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Pilgrims Fund Board (Tabung Haji) Haj Department senior general manager, Datuk Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman said it was also to ensure that the pilgrims would remain in good health to enable them to perform the pilgrimage.

"There are Malaysians residing in the Holy Land, who will invite the pilgrims to visit camel farms and that is feared to affect the health of the pilgrims," he told reporters after launching the 1436 Hijri Haj programme organised by the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding radio station, Thursday.

However, he said pilgrims need not to worry too much because the MERS-CoV outbreak was still under control.

He also advised the pilgrims to follow the instructions and advice from the Tabung Haji personnel at all time.

A total of 22,230 Malaysians will be performing the haj pilgrimage this year. The first flight will depart to Saudi Arabia on Aug 16 and the last flight on Sept 16.