Four new MERS cases confirmed in South Korea
South Korean health officials have confirmed four new cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) infection as two major hospitals in the country suspend most of their services to patients in a bid to stop the further spread of the disease.
The new MERS cases involved two individuals who were in the same hospital ward as other patients with the potentially deadly virus, the South Koran Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The other two were a nurse at Samsung Medical Center in the capital and a relative of a patient who was hospitalized for an unnamed disease in the eastern city of Pyeongtaek in early June.
Some 90 patients, visitors and medical staffers have contracted the virus at Samsung Hospital, which suspended most of its services on June 14 for a 10-day period to halt the spread of the virus.
The Konkuk University Medical Center, another major hospital in Seoul, also suspended most of its activities on Wednesday.
According to the Health Ministry, out of the 179 confirmed cases, 27 have died, 16 are in critical condition, and 67 recovered and have been released from hospital.
The outbreak of MERS in South Korea, the largest outside of Saudi Arabia, began on May 20 when a 68-year-old man was diagnosed with the disease after returning from a trip to the Arab country.
MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The disease is part of the corona virus family of viruses, which includes the common cold. It can cause such symptoms as fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.
There is no known cure or vaccine available for MERS yet.
MSM/HJL/GHN
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