Thailand has confirmed its first case of MERS, representing a further spread of the deadly respiratory disease from the Middle East to eastern Asia, Thai Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said Thursday.
A man was diagnosed with MERS after he traveled to Thailand from a Middle Eastern country on June 15, Rajatanavin said.
He was being treated in a private hospital in Bangkok on Thursday where his condition was said to be stable.
Thailand would be the 26th country with confirmed Middle East respiratory syndrome cases since the disease was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
The patient was in Thailand to receive treatment for heart disease, and was taken to the hospital when he displayed flu-like symptoms.
Disease claims more lives in South Korea
The disease continues to claim lives in South Korea — with four new deaths confirmed overnight into Thursday.
All of the victims were elderly and had underlying medical conditions.
It brings the total number of deaths there to 23.
The total number of cases in South Korea has risen to 165, with 17 of those patients in an “unstable” condition.
Five have been cured and released.
WHO ‘wakeup call’
More than 6,700 people have been placed in quarantine in South Korea, and more than 100,000 tourist visits have been canceled.
The World Health Organization has described the MERS outbreak as a “wakeup call.”
It said that the number of new cases “appears to be declining” — indicating that the outbreak could be slowing down.
But it also warned that “all outbreaks are unpredictable” — especially for new diseases that are not well understood.