MERS Virus Claims Two Lives In South Korea

Two die of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, with 23 more confirmed cases, and 700 under quarantine. The MERS patients who died mark the first in what is considered to be an outbreak in the country.

According to a June 2 report of CNN, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare confirmed that the MERS patients who died are a 58-year-old woman, while the other is a 71-year-old man.  Health Ministry official Kwon Jun-wook recommended that the government ban MERS patients from leaving the country to prevent it from spreading to neighboring countries. South Korean president Park Geun-hye admitted that there were some insufficiencies in how the country handled the virus during their initial response, but the president ordered an all-out response to stop the spread of the disease.

MERS is a coronavirus that came from the same family that triggered the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the deadly virus that has affected many lives back in 2003. However, MERS has a significantly higher death rate than SARS. Plus, there are no vaccines or cure for MERS.

According to the World Health Organization, there are 1,161 cases of MERS all over the world, and 436 have died from it. WHO also documented that there are no signs of mutations of MERS in the South Korean cases, and it is not spreading easily.

South China Morning Post gathered that South Korea will seek assistance from WHO to provide updates about the MERS cases in the country. It will tighten its border checkpoints and inspections. The country will even cancel its two exchange tours. 

The MERS virus causes an illness that can lead to fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Sometimes it also causes gastronomical health conditions, like diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. It can also cause pneumonia and kidney problems.