MERS infections in S. Korea rise to 179 with 4 more cases

Infection with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea increased to 179 Wednesday as four more cases were added, the health ministry said.

Among the four cases was a 50-year-old woman contracting the virus from the 14th patient at the emergency room of Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

She stayed at the hospital for three days through May 29, indicating that the patient 177 was confirmed positive more than 10 days after the 14-day incubation period.

Such patients developing symptoms even after the incubation period are expected to emerge sporadically.

No death was reported for two straight days, leaving the death toll at 27.

Thirteen more patients were discharged from hospitals as they completely recovered after being infected, raising the total discharge to 67.

Excluding the dead and those discharged, 85 infectees are under treatment. Among them, 16 are still in unstable conditions.

The number of those quarantined increased from 2,805 on Tuesday to 3,103 on Wednesday.

The MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona virus, similar to the one causing SARS. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching some 40 percent.

The first case was spotted in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World Health Organization has reported more than 1,000 cases of MERS globally and more than 400 deaths. Endi