MERS death toll rises to nine in South Korea
Two more people have died of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, Pushing the death toll from the deadly disease to nine, the Health Ministry says.
Thirteen new cases were also confirmed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of diagnosed cases in the country to 108.
The two latest victims include a 75-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man after the diagnosis of the first infected patient on May 20, the ministry noted.
The latest victims infected the virus at Samsung Medical Center, a major hospital in southern Seoul, which is the most affected hospital in the city. Ten of the 13 new diagnosed cases were also infected at the same center.
Meanwhile, some 2,000 schools were closed and over 3,000 people were quarantined amid fears of a MERS outbreak in South Korea.
The deadly virus has marked the biggest outbreak of MERS outside the Middle East, where, according to health officials, all the infections were limited to hospitals and all the victims had pre-existing health conditions.
The virus is considered a deadlier, but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed some 800 people in a 2003 epidemic in Asia.
There is no vaccine or cure available for the virus yet, which, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, has a fatality rate of around 35 percent.
MRA/NN/HRB
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