South Korea races to contain MERS virus outbreak, with two dead and 1600 quarantined

South Korea races to contain MERS virus outbreak, with two dead and 1600 quarantined



South Korea races to contain MERS virus outbreak, with two dead and 1600 quarantined.

South Korea has scrambled to try to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that has already claimed two lives in the country from at least 35 confirmed cases. More than 1600 people were quarantined by Thursday and upwards of 500 schools closed their doors.

Among the five new South Korean cases were two more health workers who treated infected patients.

"We are in a war," said an official at a health centre in Seoul's wealthy Gangnam district, where panic spread early on Thursday when medical workers in protection suits were spotted near a hotel.

Amid criticism it has been too slow to respond to the virus, which has no vaccine or cure, President Park Geun-hye ordered the establishment of a task force to try to contain the infection and to be more transparent along the way.

"There are a lot people worried about this situation," Ms Park told an emergency meeting of officials and health experts Wednesday. "We must make the utmost effort to stop MERS from spreading."

The case brings back memories of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, that began in Asia in 2003, spreading to Europe and the Americas and leading to 774 deaths worldwide, according to the Centres for Disease Control. Fearful that MERS has already spread, China is also taking measures to contain it.

Two people have died from MERS in South Korea, while 35 others have been confirmed as having the virus, five of them on Wednesday and five on Thursday. This makes the outbreak the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where MERS began three years ago, the World Health Organisation said, warning that "further cases can be expected".

Another 398 cases are suspected and a total of 1600 people have been quarantined, the vast majority of them at home.