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South Korea Identifies Hospital at Center of MERS Virus Outbreak South Korea Reports Nine New Cases in MERS Virus Outbreak
(about 11 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean government on Friday identified a hospital where it said most of the country’s known cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome had originated, saying that it was trying to find everyone who had been there during a two-week period in May. SEOUL, South Korea — Nine new cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome were discovered in South Korea on Saturday, five of them stemming from transmissions at one of the country’s largest and best hospitals, as officials struggled to contain the virus that has so far infected 50 people, killing four.
“Finding them and placing them under monitoring is a key to containing the spread” of the outbreak of the illness, known as MERS, which has killed four people in South Korea, Moon Hyung-pyo, the health minister, said at a news conference. The announcement of five new cases at Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul meant that a substantial new source of infection had been identified in the capital, a city of 10 million. A large, modern hospital owned by the Samsung conglomerate, the center is staffed by some of South Korea’s best-trained medical personnel.
He identified the hospital as St. Mary’s in Pyeongtaek, a city about 35 miles south of Seoul, the capital. The five infected people had all been treated in the hospital’s emergency room, where a patient with the disease, known as MERS, was treated on May 27, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The patient had earlier infected two other people in the emergency room, a doctor and a visitor.
South Korea’s outbreak of MERS, a disease first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012, is the largest to date outside the Middle East, where the vast majority of the more than 440 deaths attributed to it have occurred. Of the 50 cases in South Korea, 33, including the first laboratory-confirmed case, were found among the patients, visitors and medical staff of a hospital south of Seoul.
On Friday, the government identified that hospital as St. Mary’s in the city of Pyeongtaek, saying that it was trying to find everyone who had been there during a two-week period in May.
“Finding them and placing them under monitoring is a key to containing the spread” of the outbreak, Moon Hyung-pyo, the health minister, said at a news conference.
The decision to identify St. Mary’s, a 250-bed hospital that opened in February, was a reversal for the government, which had been criticized for withholding the names of the six hospitals where MERS cases have been traced.The decision to identify St. Mary’s, a 250-bed hospital that opened in February, was a reversal for the government, which had been criticized for withholding the names of the six hospitals where MERS cases have been traced.
The government asked that anyone who had been at St. Mary’s from May 15 to 29, including patients, employees and visitors, come forward, and it set up a hotline for them to call.The government asked that anyone who had been at St. Mary’s from May 15 to 29, including patients, employees and visitors, come forward, and it set up a hotline for them to call.
South Korea’s outbreak of MERS, a disease first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012, is the largest to date outside the Middle East. The mortality rate for known MERS cases is more than 30 percent, though it is possible that low-grade cases have gone undetected, which would reduce the mortality rate. The mortality rate for known MERS cases is more than 30 percent, though it is possible that low-grade cases have gone undetected, a factor that would reduce the mortality rate.
Current medical knowledge suggests that it takes a considerable amount of close contact for one person to transmit the virus to another, said Gregory C. Gray, a professor of global health and infectious disease at the Global Health Institute and the School of Medicine at Duke University. Current medical knowledge suggests that it takes a considerable amount of close contact for one person to transmit the virus to another, said Dr. Gregory C. Gray, a professor of global health and infectious disease at the Global Health Institute and the School of Medicine at Duke University.
Still, fear of the virus has escalated in South Korea after it was revealed that there had been transmissions beyond the initial hospital. More than 1,160 kindergartens and schools were temporarily closed, most of them in Gyeonggi Province, which includes Pyeongtaek.Still, fear of the virus has escalated in South Korea after it was revealed that there had been transmissions beyond the initial hospital. More than 1,160 kindergartens and schools were temporarily closed, most of them in Gyeonggi Province, which includes Pyeongtaek.
“Many experts will argue that the South Korean government is overreacting with the aggressive school closures,” Mr. Gray said. “Many experts will argue that the South Korean government is overreacting with the aggressive school closures,” Dr. Gray said.
Thirty of South Korea’s 41 known MERS cases were found to have been infected at St. Mary’s, where the first or so-called index patient, a 68-year-old man who had been traveling in the Middle East, was hospitalized from May 15 to 17. The hospital was closed on May 29. The first or so-called index patient in the South Korean outbreak, a 68-year-old man who had been traveling in the Middle East, was hospitalized at St. Mary’s from May 15 to 17. The hospital was closed on May 29.
The authorities have acknowledged that initial quarantine efforts at St. Mary’s were insufficient. After the 68-year-old was confirmed as having the MERS virus on May 20, health officials initially tried to quarantine only those patients who had shared his hospital room, as well as visitors and medical staff members who had been in contact with them.The authorities have acknowledged that initial quarantine efforts at St. Mary’s were insufficient. After the 68-year-old was confirmed as having the MERS virus on May 20, health officials initially tried to quarantine only those patients who had shared his hospital room, as well as visitors and medical staff members who had been in contact with them.
But on May 28, a patient who had been in another room on the same floor tested positive for MERS, leading officials to expand their quarantine efforts to everyone who had been on that floor. By then, two patients from that floor had moved to different hospitals, where they infected at least six people, according to the government. But on May 28, a patient who had been in another room on the same floor tested positive for MERS, leading officials to expand their quarantine efforts to everyone who had been on that floor. By then, two patients from that floor had moved to different hospitals, where they have infected at least 13 people, according to the government.
One of the two, a 35-year-old man, rode a bus to Seoul, where he checked into a hospital on May 27. That hospital has not been formally identified, but officials have privately confirmed news reports that it was the Samsung Medical Center, one of the country’s largest hospitals. One of the two, a 35-year-old man, rode a bus to Seoul, where he checked into Samsung Medical Center on May 27. The authorities have not formally identified the hospital, but officials have privately confirmed widespread news reports that it was the Samsung facility.
The man infected a doctor and a visitor there before he was found to have MERS on May 30, officials said. The doctor, who is now under quarantine, told South Korean news outlets that no one had told him about a possible MERS case at his hospital until he developed symptoms and asked to be quarantined on Sunday.The man infected a doctor and a visitor there before he was found to have MERS on May 30, officials said. The doctor, who is now under quarantine, told South Korean news outlets that no one had told him about a possible MERS case at his hospital until he developed symptoms and asked to be quarantined on Sunday.
As of Friday, more than 1,820 people suspected of having been in contact with any of the confirmed cases were being monitored in state-run facilities or were under quarantine at home.As of Friday, more than 1,820 people suspected of having been in contact with any of the confirmed cases were being monitored in state-run facilities or were under quarantine at home.
Mr. Moon, the health minister, criticized Seoul’s mayor on Friday for disclosing that the doctor infected at Samsung Medical Center had attended a gathering of more than 1,500 people in southern Seoul the day before going into quarantine. The mayor, Park Won-soon, made that announcement on Thursday, criticizing the central government for not having publicized it earlier. Mr. Moon, the health minister, criticized Seoul’s mayor on Friday for disclosing that the doctor infected at Samsung Medical Center had attended a gathering of more than 1,500 people in southern Seoul the day before going into quarantine. The mayor, Park Won-soon, made that announcement on Thursday, criticizing the central government for not having publicized that information earlier.
Mr. Moon said the Health Ministry had wanted to alert the people who had attended the gathering quietly, and he accused Mr. Park, a member of the opposition party, of helping to create a panic.Mr. Moon said the Health Ministry had wanted to alert the people who had attended the gathering quietly, and he accused Mr. Park, a member of the opposition party, of helping to create a panic.
“It is deeply regrettable that the unilateral announcement from Seoul City has created an unnecessary misunderstanding and fear,” Mr. Moon said.“It is deeply regrettable that the unilateral announcement from Seoul City has created an unnecessary misunderstanding and fear,” Mr. Moon said.