Health officials have launched an investigation into the source of a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (Mers-CoV) infection in South Korea that could be traced back to Bahrain.

A 68-year-old South Korean man contracted the virus following a visit to Bahrain earlier this month where he was engaged in 'farming related business', the South Korean Health and Welfare Ministry said yesterday (May 20).

It added he had been in Bahrain from April 18 to May 3 and had returned to Seoul via Qatar on May 4, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director Kim Young-taek described the man's condition as stable after he was treated for a high fever and cough, while those who had been in contact with him have also been isolated. Bahrain's Health Ministry is expecting a report from its South Korean counterpart today detailing the man's itinerary and other details, Public Health Directorate public health consultant Dr Adel Al Sayyad told the GDN.

“We are waiting to receive information from South Korean health officials regarding the patient's details,” he said.

“The reports state he was in Bahrain between April and May and there could be a possibility he travelled to any neighbouring country and then contracted the infection.”

Dr Al Sayyad insisted that Bahrain 'remains free of Mers-CoV' as all laboratory tests on suspected patients have come back negative over the past three years.

“More than a thousand samples were tested and all the results came back negative for coronavirus. Tests were also conducted on people in close contact with camels and they too tested negative.”

The ministry runs a communicable disease hotline at 66399868 for the public to inform them about any potential outbreaks, Dr Al Sayyad added. In August last year, the GDN reported on Health Minister Sadiq Al Shehabi's comments that contingency plans were in place to contain Mers-CoV '“ including an isolation ward at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

First identified in humans in 2012, Mers-CoV is a highly infectious virus that produces severe, flu-like symptoms. There is no cure or vaccine and more than a third of cases resulted in death.

According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, updated on Monday, 1,118 laboratory-confirmed cases of Mers-CoV have been identified worldwide, with at least 423 related deaths.

Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry announced earlier this week that 12 new cases of the virus had been reported from various parts of the country between May 10 and May 16.

Meanwhile, a 29-year-old man from Abu Dhabi tested positive for Mers-CoV on May 12, according to the WHO. - TradeArabia News Service