South Korean MERS Suspect Will Undergo Another Round of Tests to Rule Out Infection

South Korea has reported 150 infections and 16 deaths due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). There is no vaccine for MERS and it has a mortality rate of 35%. A South Korean man who is in isolation at a Slovakian hospital will undergo another round of tests to ensure that he is not infected with the potentially fatal MERS virus, the hospital in Bratislava said on Sunday, June 14, 2015. Hospital spokeswoman Petra Stano Matasovska said, "There were no positive indications. Out of four indicators, three were negative, and one borderline. According to epidemiological rules, it is necessary to repeat the procedure. New blood samples will be sent to a specialized lab in Prague. We need to wait another 24 hours to definitively rule out contamination. The patient is staying in a special isolated unit and that his condition was slightly better."

The 38-year-old man arrived in Slovakia on June 3, 2015, and works for a subcontractor of Seoul carmaker Kia, which has a plant in the central European country. He was admitted to the emergency room on Saturday, June 13, 2015, with diarrhea, fever and skin lesions.

Seoul’s foreign ministry said, "The man did not appear to have had contact with patients or to have visited venues where infections were reported in South Korea."

Source-AFP