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 South Korea has isolated more than 700 people for possible MERS
infection, which is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as
the one that triggered the deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but MERS has a much higher death rate
than SARS and there is no cure or vaccine.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) puts the total number of cases
globally at 1,154, with at least 434 related deaths.
A 58-year-old woman, who had contact with South Korea's first
patient, died of acute respiratory failure on Monday, the Health
Ministry said. A 71-year-old man who had been on respiratory support
with a history of kidney ailments also died.
South Korea's health ministry reported seven new cases on Tuesday,
including the woman who died, bringing the total number of cases to
25. South Korea now has the third highest number of cases after
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, according to the European
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said the government's
credibility was at stake after criticism against authorities for
failing to contain the virus after the first patient's symptoms were
initially overlooked.
"We will bring together all our health-related capabilities now and
work to dissolve anxiety and concerns quickly," he said.
The death rate from MERS, first identified in humans in 2012, has
been 38 percent, according to WHO figures, with older patients and
those with existing respiratory and renal ailments at greater risk,
according to a South Korean doctor.
By comparison, the death rate from SARS was 9 to 12 percent, rising
above 50 percent for patients over 65, according to the U.S.
National Library of Medicine.
PUBLIC ALARM GROWING
The WHO has so far not recommended travel or trade restrictions for
South Korea.
But South Korean border control authorities have issued a ban on
overseas travel for people isolated for possible infection, a health
ministry official said.
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South Korea's Hyundai Motor said it had asked employees to avoid
traveling to the Middle East, while chipmaker SK Hynix said it would
instruct employees to avoid non-essential overseas work travel.
Seven kindergartens and one elementary school near the hospital in
Gyeonggi province which reported the first death were shut for the
week.
"So far it’s been inside hospitals that infections occurred but as
soon as it gets out, it’ll probably spread rapidly," said Lee Yu-jeong,
a 41-year-old mother of three children.
"As a parent, it is worrying ... the mood among mothers is that even
if you’re a little sick, you try to avoid hospitals."
Some tour agencies have started seeing overseas groups cancelling
trips to South Korea, with one company reporting a group of 300
Chinese scrapping a visit this week and another also seeing
cancellations by Chinese travelers.
China last week reported its first MERS case -- a South Korean man
who tested positive after breaking a voluntary house quarantine and
flew to Hong Kong and then traveled to mainland China.
Xinhua news agency reported that the patient's condition had
worsened and authorities were looking for people who had been in
close contact with him.
(Additional reporting by Joyce Lee, Meeyoung Cho, Se Young Lee,
Hyunjoo Jin and Sohee Kim; Editing by Michael Perry and Tony Munroe)
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