SEOUL: The MERS outbreak that has spread through health facilities in South Korea may have peaked, although two hospitals that treated people with the deadly respiratory disease have been sealed off, officials said.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome has infected 126 people in South Korea and killed 13 since it was first diagnosed just over three weeks ago in a businessman who had returned from a trip to the Middle East. Just four new cases were reported on Friday.
The Health Ministry announced two more deaths in elderly patients who had been suffering respiratory ailments before they tested positive for the virus.
The outbreak is the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease was first identified in humans in 2012, and has stirred fears in Asia of a repeat of a 2002-2003 scare when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) killed about 800 people worldwide.
Worst of MERS outbreak may be over in South Korea
Worst of MERS outbreak may be over in South Korea
