South Korea declares ‘war’ on Mers virus as 1,800 in quarantine
Asia-Pacific, Middle East, News June 5, 2015 No Comments on South Korea declares ‘war’ on Mers virus as 1,800 in quarantineAuthorities warn public not to panic as number of people under quarantine reported to be 1,800
The World Health Organization warned that the MERS outbreak in South Korea is likely to grow, as the number of people under quarantine crept up to 1,800 on Friday.
The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed six new cases — increasing the number of people with the disease to 35. These new cases were contracted within hospitals.
So far, four people have died after contracting the respiratory virus in South Korea, the country’s Health Ministry, in the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia.
The first case, concerning a man who returned to South Korea after traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain, was reported on May 20. The person had not been ill during his travels, according to the World Health Organization.
Schools closed in South Korea
More than 900 schools have shut to prevent the spread of the virus, according to South Korea’s education ministry.
In an atmosphere of uncertainty, the public are reacting by buying masks and keeping their children away from school, he adds.
However, Kang Cheol-in, an infectious diseases expert at Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul, said it was highly unlikely anyone would become infected just by visiting crowded areas, such as parks or schools, since Mers is not an airborne disease.
MERS has killed 4 people in South Korea
Four people in South Korea have died and 41 have been infected by Mers. South Korea said it was stepping up its response on Friday after fourth victim died and the number of people infected with the disease rose to 41.
Train passengers wore protective masks in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday. The outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome was traced to Pyeongtaek, about 35 miles south of the capital. Credit: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
Virus becomes increasing public concern
South Korean President Park Geun-hye acknowledged problems in the country’s early response earlier this week.
“Initial reaction for new infectious diseases like MERS is very important, but there were some insufficiency in the initial response, including the judgment on its contagiousness,” she said.
On Friday, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced:
“From now on, Seoul city is embarking on a war against Mers. We will take swift and stern measures to protect the lives and safety of our citizens”.
What is MERS Virus?
MERS, which stands for short for Middle East respiratory syndrome, was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, international cases have largely been confined to travelers bringing the virus back to other countries and infecting one or two others. There have been deaths in countries like Oman, Algeria, and Malaysia — but none of them had additional infections to the extent of South Korea. The global death toll of virus stands at 436.
MERS is in the same family of viruses as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) as well as the common cold. However, MERS does not spread easily between humans — as far as scientists know at this point.
“So far, the virus has been circulating in humans for three years,” said Dr. Leo Poon, a virology expert at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, who worked on the SARS outbreak more than a decade ago. “We found little transmission in human. We know there is human-to-human transmission, but it’s not sustainable.”
The MERS virus, which kills more than 30 percent of its victims, has been called “a threat to the entire world” by the director of the World Health Organization. Until May, it was mostly hanging around Saudi Arabia. Then the virus jumped to South Korea, which is now battling the largest-ever outbreak of MERS outside of the Middle East.
“This is quite unusual. I think this is the only country, apart from those in the Middle East, that has such a number of cases,” said Poon. “It’s not entirely surprising. In the Middle East, people in Saudi Arabia had hospital outbreaks where a few people got infected. It’s a similar situation at the moment.”
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