By Jung Min-ho
When the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak swept the country last year, The Korea Times raised the possibility of a virus mutation (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/06/116_180045.html), citing its unusually high infection and low fatality rates.
Following the report, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government conducted genome sequencing studies of the virus together and concluded that no genetic mutation had occurred.
Speaking to reporters on June 18 in 2015, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, "The virus has been sequenced. So far, no genetic changes have been detected that could make the virus easier to transmit among humans."
However, after their own sequencing program, a group of researchers drew a different conclusion this month: the virus apparently had mutated from the one found in Saudi Arabia, where Korea's first MERS patient was infected.
"Virus strains from South Korea showed strain-specific variations," lead author Kim Dae-won of the study, "Variations in Spike Glycoprotein Gene of MERS-CoV, South Korea, 2015," said.
"Genetic variations elucidated in this study show an unreported sequence in the RBD, which suggests that MERS-CoV circulating in South Korea during the outbreak in 2015 had a higher genetic variability and mutation rate."
It is unclear whether WHO investigators lied about the virus mutation. If not, however, the study suggests that they failed to figure it out at a critical time of crisis.
In a recent press release, the Ministry of Health and Welfare admitted the virus mutation occurred, which it had long denied.
The ministry still insists that the virus mutation was not the cause of its more rapid spread and lower fatality rate, but it has not given a plausible explanation of what caused it.
Also, the ministry downplayed the importance of the study, saying that the genetic difference with the sample from a past outbreak in Saudi Arabia was only minor.
However, some experts say that even one amino acid sequence change can affect fatality and infection rates, urging the ministry to investigate the apparently unusual behavior pattern of the virus.
In Korea, the fatality rate of the disease reached about 20 percent, which is far lower than the approximately 40 percent elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the state-run Board of Audit and Inspection has requested the ministry to take disciplinary action against 16 key officials, including Yang Byung-guk, the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for failing to contain the MERS outbreak.
Lax ministry guidelines and a poor response largely contributed to the rapid spread of the virus, the BAI noted.
Thirty-eight people out of the total of 187 infected with the virus died since the respiratory disease was confirmed in Korea on May 20, 2015, and thousands more were placed under quarantine as a precautionary measure.
When the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak swept the country last year, The Korea Times raised the possibility of a virus mutation (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/06/116_180045.html), citing its unusually high infection and low fatality rates.
Following the report, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government conducted genome sequencing studies of the virus together and concluded that no genetic mutation had occurred.
Speaking to reporters on June 18 in 2015, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, "The virus has been sequenced. So far, no genetic changes have been detected that could make the virus easier to transmit among humans."
However, after their own sequencing program, a group of researchers drew a different conclusion this month: the virus apparently had mutated from the one found in Saudi Arabia, where Korea's first MERS patient was infected.
"Virus strains from South Korea showed strain-specific variations," lead author Kim Dae-won of the study, "Variations in Spike Glycoprotein Gene of MERS-CoV, South Korea, 2015," said.
"Genetic variations elucidated in this study show an unreported sequence in the RBD, which suggests that MERS-CoV circulating in South Korea during the outbreak in 2015 had a higher genetic variability and mutation rate."
It is unclear whether WHO investigators lied about the virus mutation. If not, however, the study suggests that they failed to figure it out at a critical time of crisis.
In a recent press release, the Ministry of Health and Welfare admitted the virus mutation occurred, which it had long denied.
The ministry still insists that the virus mutation was not the cause of its more rapid spread and lower fatality rate, but it has not given a plausible explanation of what caused it.
Also, the ministry downplayed the importance of the study, saying that the genetic difference with the sample from a past outbreak in Saudi Arabia was only minor.
However, some experts say that even one amino acid sequence change can affect fatality and infection rates, urging the ministry to investigate the apparently unusual behavior pattern of the virus.
In Korea, the fatality rate of the disease reached about 20 percent, which is far lower than the approximately 40 percent elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the state-run Board of Audit and Inspection has requested the ministry to take disciplinary action against 16 key officials, including Yang Byung-guk, the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for failing to contain the MERS outbreak.
Lax ministry guidelines and a poor response largely contributed to the rapid spread of the virus, the BAI noted.
Thirty-eight people out of the total of 187 infected with the virus died since the respiratory disease was confirmed in Korea on May 20, 2015, and thousands more were placed under quarantine as a precautionary measure.
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