UAE woman tested negative for MERS in South Korea

A United Arab Emirates woman who was suspected to have been infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome has tested negative for the virus in South Korea on Wednesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

According to the KCDC, the woman arrived in Korea on April 8, and visited the emergency unit of the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in central Seoul on Wednesday at 2 a.m. after experiencing high fever. The medical staff reported the patient to the KCDC as a suspected case of MERS virus infection.

The hospital, however, failed to keep the 22-year-old patient inside the facility. She reportedly returned to her hotel in the central Seoul area at about 3 a.m. The KCDC and the police tracked her down at 7:20 a.m. and sent her to the National Medical Center to be tested for MERS.

Her test result was released Wednesday afternoon.

A MERS outbreak that occurred in South Korea last year infected 186 and claimed 38 lives here since the first case was reported in May. Since the government declared a formal end to the outbreak in December, some 310 individuals have been reported as suspected MERS patients. Of them, 76 were tested for possible infection, but all the results came out negative, according to the KCDC.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)