A member of working staff wearing a mask is seen at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on May 30, 2015. Another new case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was confirmed on Saturday, the South Korea's health ministry said. The number of MERS patients confirmed in South Korea increased to 12. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
Fears of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have spread from South Korea to China on a combination of carelessness among individuals and medical staff, as well as the bungling of initial response by the South Korean government.
Read more: S. Korea to belatedly ban MERS suspects from leaving country
As of Sunday, the number of South Koreans infected with the deadly viral disease jumped to 15 after the patient zero was confirmed positive on May 20, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The 68-year-old man has infected 14 people, including a 44-year- old man who went to China against advice from the doctor, as the first patient "belatedly" notified doctors of his travel to the Middle East.
The first patient returned to South Korea on May 4 after traveling to the Middle East. From May 11, he suffered a fever and visited three hospitals for treatment, but he failed to mention his trip before he was confirmed positive for the MERS corona virus on May 20 at the fourth hospital.
All the 14 secondary infection cases happened for three days from May 15 at the hospital, which the first patient visited second. If the patient zero reported his Middle-East travel at the first hospital, the spread would have been limited.
The second case was the first patient's wife, and the third was a 76-year-old man who shared a room at the same hospital with the patient zero. The third infectee's daughter in her mid-40s was the fourth.
The 44-year-old man, son of the third patient and brother of the fourth infectee, went to China for a business trip on May 26 despite recommendations from a doctor of dropping his travel plan.
The man visited the hospital, where his father and the patient zero were hospitalized, on May 16 and stayed there for about four hours. Three days later, he suffered a fever and went on May 22 to see a doctor, to whom he failed to report his close contact with his father who was confirmed positive for the MERS on May 20.
During his second visit to another hospital on May 25, his wife reported the close contact to the doctor who said he should drop his travel plan to China.
Against medical advice, the man flew from South Korea to Hong Kong on May 26 via an Asiana Airlines flight and arrived at China' s Huizhou city through Shenzhen by bus on the same day.
In Hong Kong, the health authorities spotted the man's fever and asked him whether he had any contact with the MERS infectee, but the man denied any contact.
The doctor, who examined the man on May 25, "belatedly" reported the suspected infection to the South Korean health authorities on May 27.
Lack of understanding among the individuals and medical staffs over the fatal contagion risk triggered the spread of MERS fears from South Korea to China. If not for the carelessness of the individuals and medical staff, the MERS fears would not have obsessed the Chinese people.
Two South Korean women, who were on the same flight to Hong Kong and sat close to the MERS patient, at first refused to be isolated for test and treatment, reflecting how South Koreans lack understanding of the fatality of the viral disease. The two later agreed to the isolation.
