VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) – Earlier on Wednesday, the number of MERS cases in South Korea increased to 108, while the death toll from the epidemic climbed to nine, according to the country’s health ministry.
"The checkpoints have strengthened sanitary and quarantine control with regard to persons arriving from the Republic of Korea. The health status of arriving individuals is being monitored," the watchdog’s regional branch said in a Wednesday statement, adding that the health control measures include surveys, thermal imaging and medical paperwork checks.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has cancelled her visit to the United States, planned for Sunday, amid the outbreak, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday citing the president’s office. Park Geun-hye was due to meet with US President Barack Obama on June 16.
Over 2,000 schools and kindergartens have closed in South Korea amid the MERS outbreak and over 2,800 people have been quarantined.
The South Korean government has acknowledged that the outbreak, which started in May, is a result of insufficient safety measures during hospitalization of the first patients diagnosed with MERS.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by the MERS-coronavirus. MERS was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and then spread to other countries.
The virus is introduced from camels to people, with limited human-to-human transmission, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The infection triggers such symptoms as fever, cough and shortness of breath.
