MERS cases in South Korea rises to 166

Seoul: South Korea on Friday reported one more death and another case of infection due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, taking the toll to 24 and the total number of people contaminated to 166.

Patient 120, who tested positive on June 10, died overnight, raising the fatality rate to 14.5 percent, according to the ministry of health and welfare.

The 75-year-old man was being treated at the Samsung Medical Center here, after being infected by patient 14, who is known as "super spreader" as he has infected about 80 people, Xinhua reported.

The country`s MERS spread abated recently as new cases slid from eight on Wednesday to three on Thursday and one on Friday.

The number of those quarantined declined from 6,729 on Thursday to 5,930 on Friday.