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South Korea declares end of MERS outbreak: Yonhap

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn on Tuesday declared the deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was over, Yonhap news agency reported. Thirty-six people died out of the 186 infected in the MERS outbreak, the biggest of the virus outside Saudi Arabia, following the first diagnosis on May 20. “After weighing various circumstances, the medical personnel and the government judge that the people can now be free from worry,” Hwang said in a meeting with government officials, Yonhap reported.

South Korea’s Park postpones U.S. trip as MERS cases rise

By Jack Kim and Christine Kim SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Park Geun-hye postponed a U.S. visit on Wednesday to supervise the handling of an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), as two more people died and 13 new cases were reported, lifting the total number of patients to 108. Park had been due to leave for the United States, her country's closest ally, on Sunday and meet President Barack Obama on Tuesday. First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered China's deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

South Korea reports 14 more MERS cases, fifth death

South Korean health officials on Sunday reported 14 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, bringing the total in the country’s outbreak to 64, and said a fifth person infected with the virus had died. South Korea’s outbreak of the often-deadly MERS virus, first reported on May 20, is the largest outside the Middle East, prompting public fear and questions over the government’s initial response. The patient who died was a 75-year-old man who had been in the same Seoul hospital emergency room where a total of 17 people, including two medical staff, are believed to have been infected with MERS, South Korea’s health ministry said.

South Korea confirms second case of MERS virus; third case possible

South Korean health officials have confirmed the country's second case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in a patient who nursed her infected husband before he was diagnosed with the disease after a trip to Bahrain. The woman is in stable condition. A 76-year-old man who shared the hospital room with the first confirmed patient had developed a high fever on Wednesday, a statement from the health ministry said.

Bird flu found in UK, Netherlands but authorities say little risk to humans

By Anthony Deutsch, Costas Pitas and Sybille de La Hamaide AMSTERDAM/LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Bird flu was found on a duck farm in England on Monday days after it was discovered in Dutch chickens, forcing authorities to destroy poultry and restrict exports, although it was not a strain known to be deadly to humans. Health officials said the outbreak may have been brought to Europe by wild birds migrating from Asia where millions of South Korean farm birds have had to be destroyed. …