Update | Town quarantined in South Korea as Hong Kong expert blasts WHO on Mers response
South Korea reported its fifth death from MERS and number of infections rose to 64
An entire town has been quarantined in South Korea in a fresh scare over Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), as the World Health Organisation comes under renewed criticism from a leading Hong Kong infectious diseases expert.
The number of infections rose to 64 after 14 new cases, including one death, of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) were confirmed last night, the country's health ministry said.
With public health and infection protection experts due to arrive in Seoul today and tomorrow to discuss ways to control the outbreak, Dr Ho Pak-leung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said the WHO's response to the Mers crisis in South Korea showed it was not fit to "tackle emergencies."
In a test for the South Korean government and WHO's ability to resolve the crisis, Ji-hye, a town in the southwestern county of Sunchang, was placed under the control of health authorities and put under quarantine on Friday.
A 72-year-old woman who tested positive for the virus in South Korea ignored an order to stay at home in isolation and travelled into the town, where she is believed to have come into contact with more than 100 people.
The incident raised fresh questions over Seoul and the WHO's handling of the outbreak.
