SEOUL -- Fears for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) reached a peak in South Koreaas the first two deaths and tertiary infection were reported Tuesday.
Two infectees, who have passed away on Monday and Tuesday, were initially excluded from the quarantine list of the health authorities, and the government is expected to be under harsher criticism for the bungling of its initial response.
A 58-year-old woman, who died Monday for acute incompletion of respiratory organ, was confirmed positive for the MERS Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
She was admitted to the same hospital with the first patient on May 11 for a severe asthma attack, and had close with the patient zero for three days from May 15.
The woman moved to a hospital in Gyeonggi Province from the hospital where a number of MERS infectees were identified. She was initially excluded from the quarantine list as she didn't share a room with the first patient.
The health authorities finally traced her at the Gyeonggi hospital on Sunday night, a day before she passed away. Then, the hospital began to put the woman and her medical staffs under quarantine and observation.
The health authorities conducted a broader range of epidemiological survey only after a 71-year-old man staying at the same ward with the first patient was diagnosed with the MERS on May 28.
The 71-year-old man passed away Tuesday. He could have been put under isolation on May 20 when the patient zero was tested positive, but he was belatedly isolated after being excluded from the quarantine list.
Four infectees have been in serious conditions, raising concerns over the rising number of deaths from the MERS infection. South Korea became a country in Asia where the highest number of deaths happened for the MERS.
As of Tuesday, the total number of South Koreans diagnosed with the viral disease surged to 25 as six more cases were identified. It was the third-highest number in the world except Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Among the new cases were two tertiary infections, raising fears over an exponential increase in contagion.
Two males aged 73 and 78 each, who had close contact with the 16th infected man, 40, were tested positive.
The two tertiary infectees shared a room for three days from May 28 at the hospital where the 40-year-old man, who was infected from the first patient, was hospitalized before being confirmed positive for the MERS.
The 16th infectee was initially excluded from the government's isolation list, and was later tested positive for the viral disease after the health authorities conducted the broader epidemiological survey.
Four other cases were infected directly from the patient zero for three days from May 15. One was a 40-year-old male who was hospitalized at the same ward with the first patient, and three were families of other patients who stayed at the same hospital ward with the first patient.
The MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona-virus that is similar to the virus causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching 40.7 percent.
The first case was spotted in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World Health Organization has reported more than 1,000 cases of MERS globally and more than 400 deaths.
