Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is an illness caused by a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). MERS affects the respiratory system (lungs and breathing tubes). Most MERS patients developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. About 3-4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died.

Health officials first reported the disease in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. Through retrospective investigations, health officials later identified that the first known cases of MERS occurred in Jordan in April 2012. So far, all cases of MERS have been linked to countries in and near the Arabian Peninsula.

MERS-CoV has spread from ill people to others through close contact, such as caring for or living with an infected person. However, there is no evidence of sustained spreading in community settings.

MERS can affect anyone. MERS patients have ranged in age from younger than 1 to 99 years old.

CDC continues to closely monitor the MERS situation globally and work with partners to better understand the risks of this virus, including the source, how it spreads, and how infections might be prevented. CDC recognizes the potential for MERS-CoV to spread further and cause more cases globally and in the U.S. We have provided information for travelers and are working with health departments, hospitals, and other partners to prepare for this.Two people have died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) in South Korea, becoming the country's first fatalities from the disease.

In another report in Korea by www.bbc.com:

The first victim was a 58-year-old woman who had contact with the original case, a South Korean who visited the Middle East.
A 71-year-old man also died.
The vast majority of cases have been in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, but South Korea has reported 17 since last month.
More than 680 people, who may have come into contact with the infected patients, have been placed in isolation.
Health ministry official Kwon Jun-wook told reporters on Monday that those in quarantine were being held at their homes or in state-run facilities in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
The first fatality from Mers was recorded in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia.
It belongs to the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold and Sars, and can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.
Experts believe the virus is not very contagious.
There have been 1,167 cases of Mers worldwide, of which 479 have died, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
The only previous fatality in East Asia was a Malaysian man who died in April after returning from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile nurses at a hospital in China have been reportedly drawing lots to determine who should treat the country's first case of Mers.
The hospital, in the southern city of Huizhou, said the ballot was arranged because there were too many volunteers to treat the South Korean man.
But posts on social media suggest many were reluctant to take on the task.
The virus has a death rate of 27%, according to the World Health Organization.

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