Hospital tests South Korean man in suspected MERS case

INCHEON, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- A hospital is testing for a second time a South Korean man with suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the man having previously tested negative, health authorities said Saturday.

The 50-year-old man, who returned to South Korea from a five-month business trip in the United Arab Emirates earlier in the day, showed symptoms including a fever and chills. Airport authorities sent him to an isolation ward at Gachon University Gil Medical Center in Incheon, west of Seoul.

If the man's results are negative in the second test, he will be released. If not, he will continue to stay in the isolation ward and all people who were in close contact with him will be isolated, health authorities said.

South Korea reported its first case of MERS in three years earlier this month.

Health authorities said there has been no confirmation of additional MERS patients since the first case of the deadly disease here on Sept. 8, with all suspected cases testing negative.

MERS is a viral respiratory disease with a fatality rate of 20-46 percent. It is caused by a novel coronavirus carried by camels and can be spread when someone is in close contact with a patient for a sustained period.

South Korea was hit by an outbreak in 2015, resulting in 38 deaths and 186 people testing positive for MERS.
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