The last suspected Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) patient in South Korea was removed from isolation today, a news report said.

It had been three weeks since the country reported a new case of the disease, and today’s release suggested the country does not expect any more new cases, Yonhap News Agency reported.

More than 16,000 people have been subject to isolation since the country reported its first Mers case on May 20, Yonhap said. They have all been released as of today.

Twelve people who had been positively diagnosed with the virus were still hospitalised, although 11 of those had since been declared free of Mers, Yonhap reported.

The disease killed at least 530 people throughout the world, with a fatality rate of 36 percent, it said. The fatality rate in the Korean outbreak was significantly lower.

South Korea was expected to announce a ‘de facto’ end to Mers early next month, Yonhap reported.

- dpa