Korea MERS cluster at 122 amid alert over community spread
Lisa Schnirring
CIDRAP News
Jun 11, 2015
South Korea’s health ministry today reported 14 more MERS-CoV cases today, putting the hospital outbreak at 122 cases, as more pieces of the risk puzzle came into focus amid new worries about spread of the virus outside hospital settings.
Health officials also reported the tenth death in the outbreak, in a 65-year-old man who had advanced cancer, according to Korean media reports, which said 3,805 contacts are being monitored.
In addition, the number of health facilities affected by the outbreak grew to 55, according to a ministry report posted by the World Health Organization (WHO) today. Yesterday, 36 facilities were on the list of affected sites. Nine are hospitals and clinics where confirmed MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) patients were exposed to the virus, and 46 are facilities that confirmed case-patients visited before they were isolated.
Concern over non-hospital exposure
Eight of newest lab-confirmed MERS patients had visited Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, one of the outbreak’s two main hot spots, Yonhap News reported today. Another was infected at a hospital about 50 miles south of Seoul.
Exposures weren’t clear for five patients, however, the Korea Herald reported today. That development is notable because until now, all of the cases involved hospital settings and had clear epidemiologic links to the index patient, a 68-year-old man who got sick after returning from a trip to four Middle Eastern countries.
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