Last MERS patient rediagnosed with disease

The deadly viral disease had infected 186 South Koreans since it was first found in the country on May 20.

Now he is in hospital again, the KCDC has to revise the schedule for declaring the official end to MERS after consulting with the World Health Organization.

The 35-year-old patient, who had tested negative for the MERS virus in two tests on September 30 and October 1, has been infected again, the Health Ministry said.

But he was readmitted with a fever on Sunday and diagnosed with MERS Monday, the health ministry said in a statement.

A total of 129 people who came in contact with the patient, including the medical staff and family members, have been put into isolation.

Doctors said that a few pieces of gene left inside the patient’ s body might have been detected during the testing.

It is not always possible to identify patients with MERS-CoV early because like other respiratory infections, the early symptoms of MERS-CoV are non-specific.

No additional cases or fatalities from MERS had been reported since July until Monday.

Criticised for its initial response to the outbreak, South Korea introduced sweeping quarantine measures that saw almost 17,000 people confined to their homes. The pieces were believed to be dead virus, not fresh one proliferating inside.

The outbreak took a heavy toll on the national economy, stifling consumer spending and devastating the tourist sector.