South Korea confirms second case of MERS virus; third case possible

[May 21, 2015]  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean health officials have confirmed the country's second case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in a patient who nursed her infected husband before he was diagnosed with the disease after a trip to Bahrain.

The woman is in stable condition. A 76-year-old man who shared the hospital room with the first confirmed patient had developed a high fever on Wednesday, a statement from the health ministry said.

The ministry said on Wednesday it saw no chance of the disease spreading into the wider population because those who had been in contact with the first patient have been isolated. The original patient was in stable condition.

First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus, from the same family as the one that caused a deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China in 2003. There is no cure or vaccine.

(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Editing by Paul Tait)

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