Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV): Hajj issue for Iran

Every year, millions of Muslims from all over the world, are going to participate in the pilgrimage Hajj, located in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. There are two types of Hajj: Great Hajj and Umrah Hajj. Great pilgrimage or Hajj is obligatory for each Muslim once in entire his/her life and will occur only once a year; i.e. in the 11th month of Arabic calendar. Due to the nature of Arabic calendar (11 days less than 365 days of Persian/Christian calendar), this month is variable each year and will be in different seasons over the years. Another type of Hajj is Umrah which is possible to be participating in the rest of the year (11 months) and it is not obligatory. The accumulation of many people from all parts of the world, in terms of health management, is of great importance. In fact, every person could be a carrier of various chronic or acute diseases. This huge population may lead to occurrence of several epidemics, especially respiratory infections. Iran, as one of the biggest Muslim countries in the Middle East will annually send many people to Mecca. In 2015, more than 65 Thousands of Iranian pilgrims Hajj went to the Mecca. All of these pilgrims may be at risk for different diseases and should be considered as the potential carriers of diseases when return to Iran