South Korea Declares End of MERS Virus Outbreak 218 Days After First Confirmed Case
After 218 days since the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak hit South Korea in June, the government has declared the end of the spread of the deadly disease.
Korea Times reportedly Wednesday that the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the same day that the country would be free of MERS at 12 a.m.
Christmas Eve would mark the 28th day since the last patient's death. The duration is also twice the maximum incubation period for MERS, which is only 14 days. The World Health Organization mandates governments to wait for double the incubation period of a disease before it can declare a complete end to an epidemic.
The last victim to succumb to the disease was a cancer patient that suffered MERS-related complications on Nov. 25, Yonhap News reported Wednesday. He was diagnosed as having been infected by the virus on Jun. 7 and spent 172 days in quarantine.
"The threat of MERS has been resolved officially, meaning there are no worries about MERS infections," an official from the Ministry said. "Still, it doesn't mean the disease will not recur because it could possibly again come from another country."
The announcement follows the country's downgrading of its readiness level from "yellow" to "blue" on Dec. 1, which is the lowest alert status for infectious diseases.
A de facto end to the MERS epidemic in South Korea was announced as early as July 28, when no new cases were found for more than three weeks. By October, the WHO had announced an end of the virus transmission.
The first case of MERS virus infection in South Korea was confirmed in May 20 when a 67-year-old man tested positive after returning from the Middle East.
The MERS virus claimed the lives of 38 people in South Korea, with a total of 187 testing positive of the disease, Yonhap News noted.
Although the government has declared an end to the public health threat, it will continue to observe overseas developments since new cases of MERS are still being reported in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.
