Hong Kong Health Authorities Quarantine a Woman Over Suspicion of MERS Infection

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed 299 people in Hong Kong in 2003. There is no vaccine or cure for MERS and World Health Organization statistics reveal that MERS has a fatality rate of around 35%. An unidentified woman was rushed to a Hong Kong hospital on suspicion that she had contracted the potentially deadly MERS virus, as an outbreak in South Korea triggers alarm elsewhere in Asia.

The unidentified woman had sought treatment at a clinic in Tsing Yi station for a runny nose and fever after returning to the southern Chinese city from a trip to South Korea from May 23-27, 2015.

The government health body said, "The Center for Health Protection received a report of a suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome from a private doctor involving a 22-year-old woman. She presented with a runny nose on June 7 and had a fever on June 9. She is in isolation at a hospital and in stable condition."

Healthcare workers wore protective gear as the area around the clinic was cordoned off.

Hong Kong had previously quarantined 19 people as a precautionary measure against MERS and had also isolated suspected cases which turned out to be false alarms.

Source: AFP