S China reports first suspected case of imported MERS

Source: en.nhfpc.gov.cn

Updated: 2015-05-29

BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong Province reported its first suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced on Thursday.

A South Korean believed infected with the deadly virus came to China for a business trip on Tuesday. He has family members who are infected and had close contact with them back in Korea.

The 44-year-old man expressed discomfort as early as May 21 and reported fever of 38.7 degree celsius on Monday. He landed in Hong Kong on Tuesday and went on to Huizhou city in Guangdong Province via Shenzhen.

Health authorities put the man under observation in isolation and notified the World Health Organization on Wednesday.

Of 35 known close contacts with man, no anomalies have been found so far.

MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona virus. The first case was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching 40.7 percent.