S. Korea fears MERS may have spread to new hospital

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea on Saturday said it was closely monitoring a hospital in eastern Seoul over fears that hundreds of people there may have been exposed to the deadly MERS virus.

A 70-year-old woman who caught Middle East Respiratory Syndrome while visiting an infected relative in a different hospital was feared to have spread the virus to the new site.

"We are focusing our efforts in tracing contacts and isolating people who came close to this patient", a senior health ministry official told journalists on Saturday.

The woman died on June 25, two days after she was diagnosed, but due to the virus's 14-day incubation period, anyone she infected may only start showing symptoms in the coming days.

The official said it was too early to say whether the outbreak may be on the wane, given that new cases are expected at the new site.

"We would be able to talk about any trend of the outbreak only after watching the development at the hospital", he said.

The comments came as the country reported one additional MERS case, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 182 in the largest outbreak of the deadly virus outside Saudi Arabia.

However, no additional fatalities were reported over the past 24 hours, with the death toll standing at 31, the health ministry said.

The latest case involved a 27-year-old nurse at a hospital in eastern Seoul who was believed to have been infected while treating a patient.Seou

She is the fifth confirmed case at the hospital, where more than 100 patients who were exposed to the virus while undergoing dialysis have been isolated at the hospital since June 18.

Of the 182 confirmed cases, 90 people have recovered, 31 have died and 61 others are still being treated -- 13 of whom are listed in a critical condition.

Most of the deceased had pre-existing medical conditions, according to the health ministry.

Some 2,467 people were meanwhile in isolation, down from 2,931 on Friday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

North Korea says it has 'cure' for MERS, Ebola, AIDS

SEOUL - North Korea says it has developed a vaccine that is "very effective" in treating MERS, Ebola and AIDS, the state mouthpiece KCNA reported, as well as a range of other diseases that modern medicine is yet to find a cure for.

The drug, known as Kumdang-2, is reportedly able to treat everything from AIDS to tuberculosis and cancer, as well as "harm from the use of computers" and morning sickness, according to the drug's website.

The isolated country's news agency KCNA is notorious for making hyperbolic claims about North Korea's achievements -- from scientific breakthroughs to the sporting prowess of its leaders -- and has previously trumpeted the efficacy of the drug.

Developed by North Korea's Pugang Pharmaceutic Company -- and promoted under the tag line "Everyone has the right to be healthy" -- the vaccine is made of extracts from ginseng with the injection of rare earth elements, KCNA said.

"The Kumdang-2 injection, a strong immune activator, which is produced in DPRK (North Korea), is very effective in curing diseases caused by malignant viruses such as SARS, Ebola and MERS," said the report.

The impoverished communist state, known to have a weak health infrastructure, claims to have been testing this cure-all drug since 1989.

South Korea is currently battling with an outbreak of MERS, which has killed 24 people while 166 cases have been confirmed -- the largest outbreak of the disease outside Saudi Arabia.

North Korea has taken drastic measures in the past to guard against viral diseases, and it has recently intensified screening and vowed "watertight" measures at airports and border crossings to ward off the MERS virus.

Last year it imposed a four-month ban on foreign tourists, purportedly due to concern over the spread of the Ebola virus.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

First MERS case confirmed in Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai health officials Thursday said a 75-year-old man from the Middle East was confirmed to have MERS, the country's first case after a deadly outbreak of the virus hit South Korea.

"(The man) is from a Middle Eastern country. The (test) results confirmed that he has Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)," said Rajata Rajatanavin, Thailand's Public Health Minister, adding the patient had arrived in the kingdom with his family three days ago.

Thailand had investigated around 20 people for the virus, all of who tested negative.

MERS has spread at an alarmingly rapid pace in South Korea since the first case was diagnosed on May 20, infecting 165 in what is the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia and prompting a major public health scare.

Earlier on Thursday World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan had expressed guarded optimism over South Korea's ability to contain the MERS outbreak, saying it was now "on a very good footing" after an initially slow response to the virus which has killed 23 people.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

South Korean shopping, baseball, movies and art hit by MERS

SEOUL - South Korean high street spending fell dramatically in the first week of June as fears over an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) kept shoppers at home, but online purchases rose, government estimates showed on Wednesday.

President Park Geun-hye postponed a US visit to supervise the handling of the outbreak, as two more people died and 13 new cases were reported, lifting the total number of patients to 108.

Department store sales in the period fell 25 percent from an average of the first two weeks of May, the data showed. Sales at discount stores fell 7.2 percent, but online purchases rose 3.2 percent.

Cinema ticket sales dropped 54.9 percent in the first week of June from the year-earlier period. Visitors to amusement parks plummeted 60.4 percent and to baseball games, 38.7 percent.

Museums and art galleries suffered the same fate, with drops of 81.5 percent and 48.3 percent, respectively.

Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan asked South Koreans in a briefing on Wednesday not to be excessively worried and urged consumers to continue spending money.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Foreign woman dies of MERS in Saudi

RIYADH - A foreigner has died after she contracted MERS in the Saudi capital, the health ministry said on Friday, bringing the nationwide death toll to 73.

The 55-year-old woman, whose nationality was not disclosed, was suffering from chronic illnesses, a statement said.

The health ministry said five other people living in Riyadh were infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, two of them foreigners.

Late on Thursday, the ministry reported the death of a 70-year-old Saudi woman in the western city of Jeddah where the virus has spread in recent weeks.

It reported six other infections in Jeddah, among them an expat "health worker," bringing to 218 the number of MERS infections in the worst-hit country.

Panic over the spread of MERS among medical staff in Jeddah this month forced the temporary closure of an emergency room at a major hospital, prompting Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabiah to visit the facility in a bid to calm the public.

Local media reported Wednesday at least four doctors at Jeddah's King Fahd hospital have resigned after refusing to treat patients affected by MERS, apparently out of fear of catching the virus.

The MERS virus was initially concentrated in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia but has now spread across other areas.

The World Health Organisation said Thursday it had been told of 243 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS infection worldwide, of which 93 have proved fatal.

Malaysia announced the first MERS death Sunday in the country of a man who had developed a fever, cough and breathing difficulties after returning from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on March 29.

The case prompted Malaysian authorities to quarantine 64 people in the dead man's village.

The MERS virus is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died.

Experts are still struggling to understand MERS, for which there is no known vaccine.

A recent study said the virus has been "extraordinarily common" in camels for at least 20 years, and may have been passed directly from the animals to humans.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com