South Korea’s MERS outbreak has ‘levelled off’ with one fresh case reported

Health officials have confirmed an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea appears to have leveled off, with the country reporting just one new patient, a day after Thailand reported its first case. A total of 166 people have been infected in the South Korean outbreak, the largest outside Saudi Arabia. It has been traced to a 68-year-old man who returned from a business trip to the Middle East in May. It has spread through hospitals, killing 24 people.

Given the current developments, we have judged that it has leveled off, but we need to watch further spread, further cases from so-called intensive control hospitals.

South Korean health ministry’s chief policy official, Kwon Deok-cheol, told a briefing.

The Thai case, a 75-year-old businessman from Oman, does not appear to be linked to the South Korean outbreak but will spread anxiety in the region, even though the worst appears over in South Korea. MERS was first identified in humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and the majority of cases have been in the Middle East. Isolated cases have cropped up in Asia before South Korea’s outbreak began last month, and Thailand is the fourth Asian country to register a case.

Health MERS