HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA-DEATH South Korea confirms death of fourth MERS patient

Record ID: 150163

  • Title: HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA-DEATH South Korea confirms death of fourth MERS patient
  • Date: 5th June 2015
  • Summary: SEJONG, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 5, 2015) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS SITTING AT NEWS BRIEFING ROOM DIRECTOR OF THE KOREA CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, YANG BYUNG-KOOK, WALKING TOWARD PODIUM JOURNALISTS AT NEWS BRIEFING YANG SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) DIRECTOR OF THE KOREA CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, YANG BYUNG-KOOK SAYING: "There were five additional cases and
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADNT123NU6584GT105KGQ5S5UE
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Korea confirmed the death of one more victim of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Friday (June 5), the fourth fatality in an outbreak of the often-deadly virus in the country.
    The patient was a 76-year-old man and had been the third person to contract the illness after sharing a ward with other MERS patients, the ministry said in a press release.
    The ministry said five more people were confirmed to be carrying the disease, bringing the total of South Koreans with MERS to 41 - the highest number outside the Middle East.
    "There were five additional cases and there was one death. The deceased was the third diagnosed patient who had contact with the first patient while being hospitalized with underlying severe gallbladder cancer," said Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Yang Byung-kook at a news briefing.
    "Among patients, some are in very stable condition, getting ready to leave the hospital and some just took off a respirator," Yang added.
    More than 3,000 people have been advised to stay at home in voluntary quarantine or have been quarantined at medical facilities.
    While there has been no sustained human-to-human transmission, the worst-case scenario would be for the virus to change and spread rapidly, as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) did in 2002-2003, killing about 800 people around the world.
    MERS was first identified in humans in 2012 and is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered SARS. But MERS has a much higher death rate at 38 percent, according to WHO figures.
    The WHO said it would send a team to review the situation and assess the response. It has not recommended travel restrictions but thousands of people have cancelled trips to South Korea.
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