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First Mers-related deaths reported in South Korea

Two people have died in South Korea in the first reported deaths related to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or Mers, a news report said today.

Both people, a 58-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man, had been identified as carrying the virus, Yonhap news agency reported.

Six more cases of Mers were also discovered, the Health Ministry said, bringing the total number infected in the outbreak to 25.

Many of the infections were detected in the same hospital as the first case nearly two weeks ago.

The first patient reportedly caught the disease while in the Middle East in mid-April.

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that hundreds of visitors from China have cancelled their travel plans to South Korea after the two Mers deaths.

South Korea’s top travel agency Hana Tour was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying about 300 Chinese travellers had scrapped their plan to visit the country amid growing fears of the disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

Second largest travel agency Mode Tour indicated the number of Chinese tourists who cancelled their travel plans might increase.

The viral respiratory disease was first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia.

The World Health Organisation has registered more than 1,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of Mers worldwide to date. Over 400 people have died.

- dpa

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