The outbreak of MERS in South Korea has now turned deadly:
South Korea on Tuesday reported the first two deaths from an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that has affected 25 people in two weeks.
A 58-year-old woman who had had contact with South Korea’s first patient died of acute respiratory failure on Monday, the Health Ministry said. A 71-year-old man who had been on respiratory support with a history of kidney ailments also died.
The ministry reported new confirmed cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 25. South Korea now has the third highest number of cases after Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. [Reuters]
This seems like a common sense thing to do to stop the spread of MERS:
A Chinese tourist, wearing a facial mask, visits Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul on June 1, 2015, as South Korea confirmed three additional cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that day, raising the number of patients diagnosed with the illness to 18. (Yonhap)
The South Korean government is moving to place a temporary ban on people exposed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) from leaving the country, officials said Monday, as part of efforts to prevent the disease from spreading.
The move comes as a South Korean man, despite having come in close contact with a MERS patient and developing possible symptoms of the potentially deadly disease, left for China last week.
The 44-year-old man has since been diagnosed with the disease and is in isolation at a Chinese hospital.
The move also came as the country reported three more confirmed cases of MERS earlier Monday, bringing the total number of people infected with the disease to 18.
The latest infected people had been in the same hospital where the country’s first MERS case was reported. Two of them were patients in the hospital, while the other person is a son of another patient who had visited the hospital to care for his parent, the Health Ministry said. [Korea Times]
It is good to see that South Korea is taking the MERS virus seriously because in a densely populated country like South Korea the virus could easily spread:
The government said Sunday it will soon launch a task force of government officials and civilians to enhance a monitoring system for MERS and take all-out measures to prevent the spread of the viral disease.
“We will launch a joint task force of government officials and civilians for all-out efforts against the disease,” Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo told reporters. “We are determined to shed light on the cause of the disease and the route of its spread.”
Moon’s remarks came as the number of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome cases rose to 15 in South Korea as of Sunday.
The ministry confirmed two more MERS cases earlier in the day, bringing to 15 the total number of people infected with the deadly disease.
The Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said one serviceman in the central city of Gyeryong recently contacted his mother, who has been infected with the MERS virus, noting military authorities have quarantined some 30 other soldiers who live in the same barracks. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the virus is reported to have a 40% mortality rate. Hopefully everyone in USFK is taking necessary precautions as well.
