Second Case of MERS in Thailand

Second Case of MERS in Thailand

Health officials in Thailand on Sunday confirmed the country’s second case Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS.

The patient was a 71-year-old Omani national.

Ministry officials said they have quarantined, and are monitoring, 37 people who had close contact with the man, including family members who traveled with him, as well as a taxi driver, passengers who sat near him, flight attendants and hospital personnel.

MERS belongs to the same family of viruses as the common cold and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and kills more than one-third of the people it infects, largely through respiratory infections. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. No vaccine exists.

Last year, South Korea struggled with an outbreak that killed 36 people.

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