MERS death toll continues to rise in S. Korea (Updated)

There were two more deaths from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea yesterday, bringing to nine the total number of deaths in the current outbreak. The number of confirmed new cases jumped from eight to 13.

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Wednesday update

South Korean soldiers check the body heat of visitors at the entrance of the Defence Ministry in Seoul on June 9, 2015. AFP PHOTO / JUNG YEON-JE

MERS death toll rises to nine in S. Korea

Seoul, June 10, 2015, AFP – South Korea on Wednesday reported two more deaths from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bringing to nine the total number of deaths in the current outbreak.

Thirteen new cases were also confirmed, expanding the list of known cases to 108 following the diagnosis of the first infected patient on May 20, the health ministry said.

The two latest fatalities include a 75-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man, both victims of the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia.

The pair contracted the virus at Samsung Medical Centre, a major hospital in southern Seoul which has seen the greatest number of total infections and where 10 of the 13 new patients were also infected.

The three other new victims had their diagnoses confirmed at three different hospitals, including two in the central city of Daejeon and one near a southern suburb of Seoul.

All the infections were limited to hospitals and health authorities stressed that the outbreak had not spread to communities outside hospital settings.

Tuesday's story

South Korean medical workers wearing protective clothing talk with visitors in front of the emergency section at the Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul on June 8, 2015. AFP PHOTO / JUNG YEON-JE

S. Korea reports seventh MERS death

Seoul, June 9, 2015, AFP –  South Korea on Tuesday reported its seventh death from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, and confirmed eight new cases in the deadly outbreak.

The latest fatality involved a 68-year-old woman who came into contact with a MERS patient at a hospital in Seoul on May 27 and 28, the health ministry said.

The ministry stressed all seven fatalities had pre-existing health problems before they contracted the virus, with the seventh suffering from a heart condition.

Eight new cases were also confirmed Tuesday, in comparison to 23 on the day before.

That brings the total number of infections to 95 from just four cases two weeks ago, in the largest outbreak of the disease outside Saudi Arabia.

The outbreak in South Korea, first confirmed on May 20, has sparked mounting public concern.

It has seen more than 2,500 people placed under quarantine orders and nearly 2,000 schools – mostly in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi province – closed down.

People wearing face masks watch a K-Pop performance on a street in the popular student area of Hongdae in Seoul on June 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones

But experts say the likelihood of a serious epidemic is remote, given that the MERS virus is not easily transmitted person-to-person.

"The chance of a massive outbreak in South Korea is not high," said Ho Pak-leung, a microbiology expert at the University of Hong Kong.

"Rather I think there will be continued transmissions at a low level," Ho told AFP.

Among the new cases announced Monday, most were infected at the Samsung Medical Centre in southern Seoul – one of the country's largest hospitals where nearly 900 patients and staff have been placed under observation.

A 16-year-old student became the first teenage case, but the education ministry stressed he had contracted the virus while already in hospital, so it was "not possible" that he had infected any classmates at school.

All the infections so far have been restricted to hospitals.

More than 20 countries have been affected by MERS, with most cases in Saudi Arabia.

The virus is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds of people when it appeared in Asia in 2003.

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