S Korean China’s Only MERS Survivor

A South Korean man who became China’s only case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has fully recovered and is being released from a Chinese hospital on Friday, the South Korean Health Ministry said. The 44-year-old man, whose father is a MERS patient, defied health authorities in South Korea to remain in voluntary quarantine, flying to Hong Kong in late May before taking a bus to mainland China, Reuters reported. He later tested positive for the virus and was hospitalized in the Chinese city of Huizhou, where he gradually improved. There have been no other MERS case reported in China or Hong Kong. The South Korean Health Ministry also reported that two more MERS patients had died, bringing the number of fatalities to 31.It reported one new case, taking the total to 181, the highest number of cases outside Saudi Arabia.