Sunday, June 14, 2015

Tests show South Korean in Slovakia probably does not have MERS - Reuters

<span id="midArticle_start"/> Tests show a 38-year-oldSouth Korean man admitted to hospital in Slovakia withsuspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) probably doesnot have the potentially deadly virus, the Slovak HealthMinistry said on Sunday.

<span id="midArticle_0"/>The ministry said three out of four tests came back negativeand the fourth was on the upper limits but not positive.

<span id="midArticle_1"/>Ministry spokesman Peter Bubla said the patient, who wastaken to a Bratislava hospital on Saturday, would undergofurther tests.

<span id="midArticle_2"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>An outbreak of the virus in South Korea has infected 145people and killed 14 of them since it was first diagnosed in Mayin a businessman who had returned from a trip to the MiddleEast.

<span id="midArticle_3"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>The outbreak is the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where thedisease was first identified in humans in 2012, and has stirredfears in Asia of a repeat of a 2002-2003 scare when Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS) killed about 800 people worldwide.

<span id="midArticle_4"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as theone that caused SARS. It is more deadly than SARS but does notspread as easily.

<span id="midArticle_5"/>Slovakian media reported the man was taken to Bratislava from the city of Zilina, 200 km (125 miles) to the north. Thearea is home to a Kia Motors factory, and the reports said theman worked for a subcontractor of the South Korean carmaker andhad been staying in a hotel in Zilina. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Writing by Jason Hovet;Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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