By Kim Se-jeong
The health authorities said Thursday they would need more time before declaring the official end of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak that killed 37 people.
The decision comes after one patient, who had been believed to have fully recovered, has tested positive again. After the earlier negative result, the Ministry of Health and Welfare was set to announce the official end on Thursday, 28 days ― double the incubation period ― after the patient tested negative.
“We decided to put it off to make sure that there’s absolutely no MERS patients left,” a ministry official said. “However, the chance of the patient’s spreading the virus is extremely low, so we believe there is no concern of infection.”
A new date for the MERS-free declaration will be set after the last patient tests negative again, according to the ministry.
The last patient, a 35-year-old man, was discharged from quarantine on Oct. 1 as he tested negative for the deadly virus twice. But he returned to the hospital with a high fever and tested positive again on Oct. 12. He is now in isolation for treatment at Seoul National University Hospital.
“His virus level is close to the borderline between positive and negative,” the official said. “As he was re-diagnosed with the disease, we’ll be more cautious when confirming his recovery again.”
Four other former patients are still at hospitals for treatment for other underlying diseases although they do not carry the MERS virus anymore.
He said government officials have argued over whether to declare the end of MERS or delay it, because although one patient is left, there is no MERS threat anymore. “The World Health Organization (WHO) also said the chance of transmission is extremely low,” the official said. On July 28, the government announced a virtual end to the epidemic.
There are no fixed rules on what it takes to declare the end of an outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises a declaration after double the incubation period of a disease.
The outbreak was first reported here on May 20, brought to the country by a man who had visited the Middle East and contracted the disease there. He spread the virus to others, including family members and friends, and when he was being treated, he spread it to other patients, and the disease then spread to several hospitals as a result.
A total of 186 people were infected and 37 died.
The outbreak revealed the public health administration’s incompetence in dealing with infectious diseases, as hospitals let suspicious patients contact others, and the government did not provide information about the infected hospitals to the public, resulting in more infections.
It also adversely affected the Korean economy, as scheduled events such as concerts and movies suffered from low attendance and foreign tourists cancelled trips.