BFF-42 S. Korea reports first MERS case in three years

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HEALTH-SKOREA-FLU

S. Korea reports first MERS case in three years

SEOUL, Sept 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – South Korea reported its first case of
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in three years, health officials said
on Saturday.

A 61-year-old businessman was diagnosed with the highly contagious viral
respiratory illness, according to officials at the Korea Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (KCDC).

He returned to South Korea Friday from a business trip in Kuwait where he
stayed for three weeks, the KCDC said a statement.

“Authorities have traced and separated 20 people who have come in close
contact with the infected person,” KCDC head Chung Eun-gyeong told
journalists.

They include medical staff, flight attendants and passengers of the plane
the man flew back to South Korea on, she said. He was hospitalised with fever
and phlegm and has been quarantined at a university hospital, she added.

It is the first case of MERS diagnosed in South Korea since 2015, when an
outbreak killed 38 people and triggered widespread panic.

BSS/AFP/ARS/1713 hrs