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No new cases of MERS for four days

June 30, 2015
Women wearing masks as a precaution against the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) pass by a picture of the Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the 14th-century Gyeongbok Palace and also one of South Korea's well known landmarks in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. South Korea's MERS outbreak originated from a 68-year-old man who had traveled to the Middle East, where the illness has been centered, before being diagnosed as the country's first MERS patient last month. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Women wearing masks as a precaution against the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) pass by a picture of the Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the 14th-century Gyeongbok Palace and also one of South Korea’s well known landmarks in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. South Korea’s MERS outbreak originated from a 68-year-old man who had traveled to the Middle East, where the illness has been centered, before being diagnosed as the country’s first MERS patient last month. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

(Yonhap) — No additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been found in South Korea over the past four days, the health ministry said Wednesday, indicating the outbreak may be nearing its end.

The number of people diagnosed with the disease here has remained unchanged since Saturday at 182, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Also, no additional MERS-related deaths were filed over night, with the death toll standing at 33, unchanged from the previous day.

In addition to the country seeing no additional fatalities and infection cases, two more people previously diagnosed with MERS have been discharged following complete recoveries, the ministry said.

Out of the 182 diagnosed with the disease, 97 have fully recovered while 52 still remain hospitalized.

South Korea confirmed its first outbreak of the viral respiratory disease on May 20.

Ministry officials said no additional cases over the past four days may indicate that the spread of the disease is now on the wane.

However, they noted the country was still far away from being able to declare an end to the outbreak as the country still has over 2,000 suspected cases.

As of Wednesday, 2,451 people were in isolation, mostly at their own homes, for possible infection after coming in close contact with MERS patients. The number dropped from 2,638 on the previous day.

There currently is no vaccine or treatment for the disease that is still fairly new to humans. The disease carried a high fatality rate of over 40 percent until the outbreak here.

In South Korea, the fatality rate of the disease remains at 18.1 percent.