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South Korean MERS patient quarantined in China

The total number of reported South Korea MERS cases has risen to seven.

By Elizabeth Shim

SEOUL, May 28 (UPI) -- A South Korean man infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, was quarantined in China after traveling without permission from public health authorities.

The 44-year-old man, who was on a business trip to China on Tuesday, took a flight with 166 passengers, reported Chinese news agency Xinhua.

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The man sought a doctor on Monday when he began experiencing a fever, and traveled overseas despite warnings. He was able to leave the country on Tuesday because the doctor delayed reporting his case to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

South Korea notified China and the World Health Organization of the patient on Wednesday, and on Thursday China's television network CCTV reported the man was isolated and undergoing treatment in the southern Chinese city of Guizhou, in Guangdong province.

South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Sinmun reported 35 in-flight passengers who sat next to the man were also examined but did not exhibit MERS-like symptoms.

Symptoms of the disease include a fever, coughing, respiratory problems and sudden kidney failure. There is no known cure for the virus.

The total number of reported MERS cases has now risen to seven. The man in Chinese quarantine was the son of the third patient – a 76-year-old man who was reportedly hospitalized in the same room as the first patient.

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In South Korea, public health officials were investigating about 180 colleagues of the outbound South Korean patient. The man also transferred flights in Hong Kong and traveled from Shenzhen to Guizhou, China.

The MERS Corona virus shares similarities with SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, but it is also more deadly and less contagious.

It has been reported to travel from camels to humans.

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