Healthcare | Friday 22 May, 2015 6:30 am |

South Korea on Thursday confirmed three cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome having their origin in the Middle East.

“The report of three confirmed MERS cases is correct and the first patient visited Gulf countries recently,” said Lee Jungho, spokesman of the South Korean Embassy.
“Authorities are working hard on the epidemiological study for possible control of the diseases and other factors for the fast recovery of the patients,” he added.
A 76-year-old man was diagnosed Thursday with MERS, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The patient shared a hospital room with a man who was South Korea’s first confirmed case of MERS, agency chief Yang Byung-Guk told reporters.

The first patient was not isolated initially because it wasn’t known why he was ill. Yang said the first patient had visited Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. His wife also contracted the disease. All three are being treated in hospitals and they are not in critical condition, according to Yang’s agency.
Additionally, 64 hospital workers and family members of the confirmed MERS patients have been quarantined, Yang said.

There have been a total of 1,142 cases of the virus worldwide and 465 have died, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Of the fatalities, 428 have been in Saudi Arabia.