Fifth MERS case confirmed in Korea， another suspected case reported in Jeollabuk

Another case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome has been confirmed in Korea，... lifting the total number of patients to five. But as our Han Da－eun explains， health authorities are reassuring the public that the risk of an outbreak is very unlikely. The fifth person to contract the disease is the doctor who treated the first patient. After developing a high fever and diarrhea， he was taken to an isolation ward for testing on Tuesday，... where he was confirmed positive for the virus. This is the fifth MERS case in Korea in seven days，... since the first was confirmed last Wednesday. It may seem like the virus is spreading fast，... but the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the possibility of the rare disease spreading to other parts of the nation is very low. ″That′s because the primary source of infection for all the confirmed cases is one person the first patient. There has been no secondary or tertiary infection.″ Authorities have quarantined the doctor′s family members in their homes，... while maintaining the home quarantine for the roughly 60 people who have had any kind of contact with the first four patients. ″In order to enhance the efficiency of the home quarantine， we have deployed more welfare workers to watch over them.″ Meanwhile， one more person suspected of having contracted the disease has been taken to a designated hospital for tests in Jeollabuk－do province. She′s known to have stayed at Doha Airport in Qatar， where a number of MERS cases have been reported， for two hours during transit... before landing in Korea. The CDC， however， downplayed speculation that the virus is spreading quickly，... saying her symptoms are closer to an average cold than MERS. The test results are expected on Thursday. Han Da－eun， Arirang News.