South Korea Reports No New Cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome For First Time Since 3 June!

[Arthur Little]

See also: www.filipinaroses.com/showthread.php/57331-DOH-Philippines-Remains-Free-Of-MERS-CoV?highlight (39 viewers but no responses)

Although a total of 166 Koreans were infected with the virus ... the death rate remains at 24 - in the LARGEST outbreak (believed to've spread mainly through hospitals) outside Saudi Arabia - according to Reuters.

in.reuters.com/article/2015/06/20/health-mers-southkorea-idINKBN0P002x20150620/

:yeahthat:'s reassuring!

[Doc Alan]

It is indeed good news that the outbreak of MERS in South Korea may have halted, but with with 25 deaths so far out of 166 confirmed cases of infection. The male traveller from South Korea to Huizhou, China, was placed in isolation, with 38 high-risk contacts under surveillance, but we don’t know whether additional contacts exist, so further MERS-CoV infections in China remain possible, as in other countries. There’s now a case reported in Thailand ( a 75 years old patient who had travelled from Oman ).


I did reply with three updates on the original thread, with no response :-

(
http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php/52089-Fast-Facts-The-MERS-Coronavirus?p=544009#post544009
).


We have a lot to learn about MERS – the exact mode(s) of transmission and source(s) are unknown ; treatments and vaccines seem a long way off ; so prevention is the best option. Better hospital control measures ; monitoring of close contacts ; and restriction of travel ( if needed ) would help.


The spectre of a previous CoV infection ( SARS ) hangs over China. New cases of Ebola are still occurring in west Africa, and influenza epidemics occur worldwide - infectious diseases are a continued threat to global health security.


While we’re learning more about MERS, we DO need a sense of proportion ! There are vastly more illnesses and deaths from atmospheric pollution due to smoking and traffic.