Posted : 2015-10-29 15:18 Updated : 2015-10-29 15:18
Seoul opts not to declare formal end to MERS
South Korea decided not to formally declare an end to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak Thursday despite almost no risk of more infections in the country, official sources said.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) had originally planned to make the public announcement Thursday, 28 days after the last patient held in quarantine tested negative for MERS.
...
The patient still undergoing examination is the 80th person to have been diagnosed with MERS. The 35-year-old suffers from malignant lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.
"It is hard to determine if patient No. 80 actually has MERS at present because all test results are on the borderline," a KCDC official said. He pointed out that doctors believe the anti-cancer medication he is taking has weakened his immune system and is allowing the virus to linger longer in the body than was the case with others.
The source added that there is nearly no chance of the patient infecting others, with even the World Health Organization saying the chance of transmission is extremely low....
