A South Korean man who has been quarantined in Slovakia on suspicion of carrying MERS did not get his symptoms checked before going to the central European country, a Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.
The 38-year-old landed in the Slovak capital of Bratislava on June 3 and has been identified as a subcontractor working at a Kia Motors Corp. plant in the northwestern city of Zilina.
He was quarantined in Bratislava on Saturday and is awaiting his blood test results within 24 hours, according to reports. His symptoms include diarrhea, fever and lesions on his skin, which are all signs of the viral infection.
The man didn’t go to places where he would have been susceptible to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome infection in South Korea, the ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
“The South Korean government will work closely with the Slovak health officials and provide consular assistance to our citizen,” another official said.
MERS is a viral respiratory illness that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Since then, some 1,100 cases had been confirmed throughout the world until the outbreak here was confirmed on May 20.
As of Sunday, South Korea has reported 14 MERS-related deaths. (Yonhap)
