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South Korean authorities confirmed Sunday the first case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) since the outbreak that hit the country in 2015, leaving 187 people infected and 38 dead.
The patient, a 61-year-old man, was diagnosed with the virus on Saturday after returning from a business trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with transit to Kuwait, said the Korean Prevention Center. and Disease Control (KCDC).
The South Korean government has convened an emergency meeting to analyze the situation and take preventive measures.
The patient was admitted to a hospital in Kuwait when he began to show some symptoms of the disease and when he arrived in South Korea he was transferred to Samsung Medical Center in Seoul.
The hospital alerted the authorities that this could be a case of MERS because the symptoms included high fever and pneumonia and the patient was transferred to Seoul National University Hospital where he was tested positive to the potentially lethal virus.
About 20 people who were in close contact with the patient, including passengers and crew of his aviation and immigration officers, were quarantined to prevent the spread of the virus.
This is the first case of MERS in South Korea since its appearance between May and December 2015, after this virus was detected for the first time in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and then extended to other countries. .
The MERS mortality rate in South Korea reached 20% during the epidemic, below 30-40% in other regions.
Most of the 38 deaths due to the virus in South Korea were elderly or patients with other diseases.
–IANS
ksk / mr
(This article has not been modified by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed).
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