It took Thailand nearly 4 days to confirm first MERS case

People wearing masks in South Korea.
(Image credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

It took almost four days for Thailand to confirm its first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the health ministry said on Friday.

Nearly 60 people have come in contact with the patient, a 75-year-old businessman from Oman who came to Bangkok for heart treatment, and they are being monitored, Thai Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said. Some of the people under watch include passengers on his flight to Bangkok, Reuters reports, with three hospitalized and the rest told to stay home for two weeks. An outbreak of MERS in South Korea that started about a month ago has infected 166 people and killed 24.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.