South China's Guangdong province reported its first suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced on Thursday.

A South Korean believed to be infected with the deadly virus came to China for a business trip on Tuesday. The 44-year-old man expressed discomfort as early as May 21 and 38.7 degree Celsius fever on Monday.

He arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday and went on to Huizhou city in Guangdong Province via Shenzhen.

Health authorities put the man under observation in isolation and notified the World Health Organization on Wednesday. To prevent contagion, the man's wife and the medical workers who contacted him were placed in self-isolation.

The health authorities are investigating into about 180 co-workers who closely or directly contacted the suspect.

The list of 28 passengers on board the same flight bound for China and seated near him was forwarded to the Chinese authorities. Aboard the flight were 80 South Koreans, 78 foreigners and eight flight attendants.

Of the known close contacts with the man in Guangdong, no anomalies have been found so far.

The 44-year-old has family members who were confirmed to have contracted the virus, according to China News Service.

Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control said in a notice on Thursday that Beijing has made tight plans to prevent widespread of MERS virus.

As an international metropolitan for frequent trade and culture exchanges with overseas cities, the Chinese capital has the potential risk of importing MERS case, said the Beijing disease prevention authorities.

MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona virus. The first case was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching 40.7 percent.

MERS-infected S Koreans rise to 7

The number of South Koreans infected with MERS rose to seven just eight days after the patient zero was confirmed positive on May 20, the country's disease control center said Thursday.

The first patient was an unidentified 68-year-old male who traveled to the Middle Eastern region before returning to South Korea on May 4. His wife became the second patient who contracted the MERS corona-virus.

The third infectee was a 76-year-old man who shared a hospital room with the first patient, and his daughter who attended to the third patient became the fourth.

The 76-year-old man's son, who came to China for a business trip, is believed to be infected with the deadly virus. His son is now under observation in isolation in South China's Guangdong province.

Yang Byeong-kook, chief of the disease control center, told a press briefing that the South Korean man, who went to China, failed to notify the health authorities of his visit to his father during the initial epidemiological survey.

The doctor, who examined the patient zero earlier this month, became the fifth case infected with the deadly viral disease.

The MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona-virus. The first case was found in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, with its fatality rate reaching 40.7 percent.

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