WHO expects MERS to spread from S.Korea

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on

Saturday that it expected the

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) to spread wider, and added that the disease was both large and complex, and that it was premature to declare the outbreak over.

It said that so far 140 people have been infected since last month, and of these, 14 have died.

First cases of the virus emerged in the Middle East in 2012, and the first death was reported from Saudi Arabia in June of that year.

It is not known how the virus is transmitted, but speculation is that it spreads through droplets from persons coughing or sneezing.

Patients thereafter suffer from fever, cough and breathing difficulties, and acute case involve pneumonia and kidney failure.

Speaking in Seoul after a week-long investigation, the WHO's Keiji

Fukuda said the outbreak has been large and is complex, and therefore, more cases should be anticipated.