A single patient infected 82 people with the
deadly MERS virus in an overcrowded South
Korean emergency room in 2015, according to
a scientific investigation released Saturday.
The study, published in the medical journal
The Lancet, maps a lethal outbreak of Middle
Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in
South Korea that caused 186 known infections
in all, including nearly 40 fatalities.
The case is the most prolific transmission of
MERS virus from one patient outside the
Middle East.
As long as the highly-contagious respiratory
disease -- with a 30-40 percent mortality rate
-- continues to circulate in the Middle East,
governments and health care providers should
be prepared for sudden outbreaks elsewhere,
the researchers warn.
"This study is the first to document the spread
of MERS virus through a hospital," Doo Ryeon
Chung and Yae-Jean Kim of Samsung Medical
Center -- where the outbreak occurred -- said
in a statement.
"Our results show the increased potential of
MERS virus infection from a single patient in
an overcrowded emergency room."
The outbreak in South Korea began with a 68-
year old man -- known as "patient 1" -- who
had travelled to Bahrain, the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the Spring
of 2015.
Correctly diagnosed, he was admitted to
Samsung and isolated from other patients.
But unknown to doctors and health officials, he
had already infected several other people,
including a 35-year old man with whom he
shared a ward in another health facility.
It was this younger man, "patient 14," who
later spread the virus through Samsung's
emergency ward.
The researchers estimate that nearly 1,600
people were exposed to patient 14 in the
emergency room.
Of the 82 who were infected, 33 were
patients, eight were health care workers, and
41 were visitors.
Patients staying in the same zone of the
emergency room had a 20 percent chance of
contracting MERS, the study found.
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