S. Korea reports new probable case of flu

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; ADDS comment, background, details throughout)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea reported an additional probable case of H1N1
flu Sunday in a 62-year-old woman who was aboard the same passenger airplane with
the country's first confirmed patient.
South Korea now has two probable cases of the disease, which has officially
caused nearly 20 deaths in Mexico and infected 760 people in 18 countries,
including the U.S., England and New Zealand.
The latest patient, whose name has yet to be released, is being quarantined at a
military hospital south of Seoul, said Lee Jong-koo, director at the Korea Center
for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Her case was established last night, and she was quarantined early this
morning," Lee said in a televised briefing.
On Saturday, the center said that a 51-year-old nun confirmed to be infected
after a community service trip to Mexico has healed completely. But officials
said Sunday her release remains pending.
Over 330 passengers flew on the airplane that arrived in South Korea on April 26,
according to the center.
About 140 of them were excluded from examination because they were either
foreigners or connecting passengers. Some 180 tested negative, while about a
dozen have yet to be located.
A 44-year-old woman who lived alongside the nun for a few days remains
quarantined in the other probable case of the influenza that was first publicized
as "swine flu," according to the center. Confirmation is unlikely until early
this week.
A 57-year-old bus driver was also categorized as a probable case, but later
tested negative.
South Korea was the 14th country to report a confirmed case of the virus and the
second in Asia following Hong Kong, according to the World Health Organization.
South Korea has restricted travel to Mexico, where the outbreak has taken its
highest toll, while asking Korean residents visiting their homeland from Mexico
to stay inside their lodgings for a week.
Lee said his center began operating a special monitoring unit as of Saturday,
while the country has tightened inspections of pork imports from affected
countries.
About two dozen people who sat close to the confirmed patient aboard the plane
tested negative, according to center officials.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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