South Korea - Untested contact of 1st coronavirus MERS case died of respiratory failure - more than 680 people in isolation - June 1, 2015

[tetano]

More than 680 people in isolation in South Korea over fears that MERS virus will spread

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of -- More than 680 people in South Korea have been placed in isolation after having contact with those infected with a virus that has killed hundreds of people in the Middle East, health officials said Monday.
South Korea has reported 17 cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since a man tested positive following a trip to Saudi Arabia and became the country's first MERS patient earlier this month. The virus in South Korea has so far been largely limited to medical staff who treated the first patient and who stayed at the same hospital with him, as well as his family members.
South Korean Health Ministry official Kwon Jun-wook told reporters Monday that 682 people who had close contact with the patients, such as their family members and their medical staff, were isolated at their homes or state-run facilities to prevent the spread of the disease.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/more-than-680-people-in-isolation-in-south-korea-over-fears-that-mers-virus-will-spread-1.2400273

[Gert van der Hoek]

A 58-year-old woman who had contact with the first patient but was not tested, died of respiratory failure, a health ministry official said, adding that clinical tests were being conducted to verify her cause of death.

Reuters

[Gert van der Hoek]

Breaking: Suspected female MERS patient dies By Lee Ji-hye A 58-year-old female patient with symptoms similar to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has died, hospital officials in Gyeonggi Province said Monday. They stated that the patient, who had physical contact with the first person to have been diagnosed with MERS, had been admitted to the hospital and was pronounced late Monday afternoon. Officials have yet to confirm if the death was directly caused by MERS, and plan to launch an epidemiologic investigation to determine further details. Health officials stated that the cause of death remains unconfirmed. "It is clear that the person has died, but she had not been diagnosed with MERS; he was just a suspected case," an official said. "We can confirm that he had physical contact with the first patient to have been diagnosed with MERS."