South Korea boosts MERS measures as virus claims seventh victim

SOUTH Korea is strengthening measures to stem the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which claimed its ninth victim in the country this week.

 

A statement from the Health Ministry on Wednesday said the latest casualties had been suffering from serious illnesses prior to testing positive for MERS.

 

MERS cases in South Korea have reached 113, the largest MERS outbreak outside the Middle East. More than 2,800 people are isolated at their homes or state-run facilities after having contact with patients infected with the virus, and about 2,000 schools have closed as a result of the outbreak, health authorities also said.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said in a news conference Sunday there was no reason to believe that the virus would significantly spread further in the country.

 

"So far, all the MERS cases have been hospital-associated, and there has been no case of an infection in other social settings. We think we have a chance at putting the outbreak under total control," Choi said.

 

In a departure from an earlier policy not to reveal the names of hospitals where the MERS patients have been diagnosed or had been treated before their condition was confirmed to avoid service disruption in these facilities, the government disclosed on Sunday the names of 24 hospitals. This development is meant to allow people who have visited those facilities in recent weeks to report themselves if they are showing symptoms similar to MERS-related illnesses, officials said.

 

MERS, which was discovered in 2012, has no vaccine to date. It belongs to the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold and SARS. It can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia, and kidney failure. 

 

The virus, which has mostly been centered on Saudi Arabia, is spread primarily through contact with camels but can also be spread from human fluids and droplets. Health experts say it spreads through close contact with infected people and not through the air.