S Korea's first case of MERS since 2015

South Korean authorities have confirmed the first case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus since the 2015 outbreak.

South Korean authorities have confirmed the first case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus since the 2015 outbreak which killed 38 people and left 187 infected.

A 61-year-old man was diagnosed with the virus after returning from a business trip in the United Arab Emirates with transit in Kuwait, reported the Korea Centres for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC).

The South Korean government has convened an emergency meeting on Sunday to analyse the situation and take preventive measures.

The patient was admitted to a hospital in Kuwait when he began to show some MERS symptoms and upon arrival to South Korea was transferred to the Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul.

It's the first case of MERS in South Korea since its outbreak recorded between May and December 2015, after this virus was first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and subsequently expanded to other countries.

Most of the 38 deaths due to the virus in South Korea were elderly people or patients affected by other illnesses.


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Source: AAP



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