Two people have been reported dead in South Korea after contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a virus that has infected over 30 in the country.
The Health Ministry reportedly said that the first victim was a 58-year-old woman and the other was a 71-year-old man, providing no further details.
The World Health Organization has warned that the MERS outbreak is likely to grow, as the number of people under quarantine crept up to 1,369. More than 700 schools have shut to prevent the spread of the virus, according to South Korea’s education ministry, as reported by the media.
“There are a lot people worried about this situation,” President Park Geun-hye told an emergency meeting of officials and health experts Wednesday. “We must make the utmost effort to stop MERS from spreading,” he further added.
The acute respiratory disease, which can cause fever, coughing, shortness of breath, and kidney failure, is caused by a corona-virus and belongs to the same family as the common cold or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).