How MERS Patient Zero Inadvertently Sparked An Outbreak In South Korea

We reported him to the disease control center but because he went to Bahrain, which was all we knew at that time, his case dragged on," said an official at the hospital where he was diagnosed on May 20, who also declined to be identified. "Too much time was spent finding him positive." The person the index patient shared a room with at the Pyeongtaek hospital contracted MERS, as did that person's son, who had visited. The son broke voluntary quarantine and traveled to Hong Kong and mainland China, where he was diagnosed with MERS. He is in hospital in China. As of Wednesday, the index patient was on a respirator in a government-designated hospital. His 63-year-old wife also contracted the virus, but authorities said her condition had improved. Authorities believe that other than the index patient, most of the MERS infections in South Korea came from the health facilities the index patient visited. (Additional reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Editing by Tony Munroe, Robert Birsel) -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news