Number of MERS-infected South Koreans rises to 12

The number of South Koreans infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) increased to 12 on Friday, just nine days after the first case was reported, Yonhap News Agency and YTN reported citing the health ministry.

Two more cases were reported Friday evening as the new infectees were hospitalized at the same ward with the patient zero in his late 60s.

Earlier in the morning, the ministry said that two others were confirmed positive for the deadly viral disease. They included a nurse who treated the first patient and a male who was admitted to the same hospital ward with the first patient.

A South Korean man, who went to China for a business trip Tuesday, was tested positive for the MERS, according to the Chinese health authorities.

The 44-year-old man flew from South Korea to Hong Kong on Tuesday and entered Huizhou city via Shenzhen. He had close contact with his father and sister, the third and fourth patients infected with the MERS corona virus.

The number of infectees rose rapidly to 12 just nine days after the patient zero was confirmed positive on May 20.

The first patient was an unidentified 68-year-old male who traveled to the Middle East region before returning to South Korea on May 4. His wife became the second patient who contracted the deadly virus.

The third infectee was a 76-year-old man who shared a hospital room with the first patient, and his daughter who attended to the third patient became the fourth.

The doctor, who examined the patient zero earlier this month, became the fifth. The sixth case was a 71-year-old male who was hospitalized at the same ward with the patient zero, and the seventh was a 28-year-old nurse who treated the first patient.

The MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona-virus. The first case was spotted in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching 40.7 percent. Endi