The number of South Koreans tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) rose to 41 Friday as five more cases were identified, the country's health ministry said.
Death with the MERS contagion increased to four, raising the fatality rate to 9.8 percent, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The five new cases were or estimated to be tertiary infection, which means contagion from secondary infectees.
Among them was a chief master sergeant in the Osan Air Base, the first case of MERS contagion in the military.
The 45-year-old soldier was tested positive Thursday at the initial test and received the final confirmation for the viral disease on Friday.
He was admitted to the hospital in May, but was estimated to be infected from secondary infectees as his first symptom of the MERS began to be shown beyond the latent period from his contact with the first patient.
Some 60 soldiers at the air base, where South Korean and U.S. troops are stationed, have been isolated for possible contagion.
The third patient, who had been confirmed positive on May 21 as he shared a hospital room with the first patient, passed away Thursday.
When the 76-year-old was infected, he was suffering from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the health ministry said.
He is the father of the 44-year-old man who went to China on May 26 against the medical advice of dropping his travel plan.
The death toll has risen to four as of Friday, raising the fatality rate to 9.8 percent.
An 83-year-old man passed away Wednesday, and he was confirmed positive for the MERS on Thursday night.
Another confirmation after death was a 57-year-old woman who passed away on Monday and received the MERS confirmation a day later.
The MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona-virus that is similar to the one causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching 40.7 percent.
The first case was spotted in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World Health Organization has reported more than 1,000 cases of MERS globally and more than 400 deaths.
