The South Korean Ministry of Health reported today (computer translated) of the first confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in a patient who recently returned from Bahrain. This male South Korea the 24th country to report a confirmed case of MERS.

Korea
South Korea
Image/CIA

Health officials say the 68-year-old man was in Bahrain on work-related crop cultivation business from April 18 to May 3. He traveled through Qatar’s airport on May 4.

One week after arriving back in South Korea he exhibited symptoms of fever and cough and was initially treated on an outpatient basis.

A couple of days later he was hospitalized and was confirmed positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Health officials say the patient is in stable condition. In addition, they note that family contacts are being watched.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), they have been notified of 1118 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 423 related deaths as of May 18.

MERS was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.