German Man Dies Of Complications Stemming From MERS

German Man Dies Of Complications Stemming From MERS
A South Korean health worker wearing protective gear sanitizes a chair in a public bus at a transport company in Seoul on June 15, 2015. South Korea reported on June 15, two more deaths and five new cases in the growing outbreak of MERS which has placed more than 5,200 people under quarantine and sparked widespread alarm. AFP PHOTO / JUNG YEON-JE (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)
A South Korean health worker wearing protective gear sanitizes a chair in a public bus at a transport company in Seoul on June 15, 2015. South Korea reported on June 15, two more deaths and five new cases in the growing outbreak of MERS which has placed more than 5,200 people under quarantine and sparked widespread alarm. AFP PHOTO / JUNG YEON-JE (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - A 65-year-old German man who was infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus earlier this year has died in hospital, the health ministry of the German state of Lower Saxony said on Tuesday.

The man died in the town of Ostercappeln, north-west Germany on June 6 from complications stemming from the virus, the ministry said in a statement.

It is the first German death from the MERS virus, which emerged in the Middle East in 2012 and is from the same family as the SARS virus. It can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia.

The man is believed to have been infected with the virus while visiting an animal market on the Arabian Peninsula in February, the ministry said.

It said there were no indications he had infected others, having tested 200 people and found them all negative for the virus.

The virus has infected over 150 people in South Korea and killed 19 of them since it was first diagnosed on May 20 in a businessman who had returned from a trip to the Middle East. (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Before You Go

Get A Massage

Beat The Flu With These Tips

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE