Source: yonhapnews.co.krSEOUL, May 10 (Yonhap) — A South Korean woman died on Monday at a Seoul hospital of pneumonia caused by an unidentified virus, the disease control agency said.
The 36-year-old woman died in the morning in the intensive care unit at the hospital after being admitted last month for tuberculosis, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The death marks the first mortality here caused by an unidentified virus, it said.
The CDC is still studying to identify the virus that led to the death of the woman who was pregnant when she was hospitalized, it said. She was later induced to have premature labor for treatment purposes.
“It is critical to identify whether the concerned virus that caused pulmonary fibrosis is a new type of virus that has not been reported in the past,” a CDC official said, referring to the development of excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs, which led to the woman’s death.
The CDC also said six more women are currently being treated for similar cases of pneumonia at the hospital. All of them have recently given birth or are expecting.
“Results of the virus test may come on Thursday. But it will take longer to identify what caused the pneumonia given the time needed to go through an additional DNA test (on the woman),” the official said.
