South Korea's health minister vowed to take aggressive and flexible steps to help prevent the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Wednesday, as the spread of the viral disease can be considered a threat to national security.

"From now on, (the government) will take strong measures to prevent the disease from spreading that will include swift evaluation and management of people who have come in close contact with those diagnosed, along with strengthened quarantine efforts," Moon Hyung-pyo said in a special report to the parliamentary health and welfare committee.

The minister's remarks followed reports that a daughter of a MERS-infected patient had voluntarily asked to be tested but was turned away by health authorities.

The daughter was admitted to a state-designated hospital early Tuesday after she began showing symptoms of the disease and was later diagnosed with the deadly MERS coronavirus.

So far, the country has reported five confirmed cases of MERS, but the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the people have caught the virus from the very first patient, a 68-year-old male who is believed to have contracted it while traveling to the Middle East between mid-April and May 4.

The CDC has insisted a test is unnecessary for people without symptoms that include fever, diarrhea and difficulties in breathing. All people who are believed to have come in close contact with the first patient have been placed in isolation at their own homes following the diagnosis of the first patient last Wednesday.

The health minister noted the measures taken so far complied with all guidelines provided in the government manual.

Still, he said, "the government will not be bound by the existing manual from now on and actively take preemptive measures under the assumption of the worst case possible."

"It will set up a 24-hour monitoring system, and immediately test and quarantine anyone who shows any sign of abnormality after coming in contact with a patient," he added.

Meanwhile, the CDC said a new suspected case of MERS was reported Wednesday from a 25-year-old female, who began to show minor symptoms of the flu after returning to the country on Saturday following a 4-month stay in the Middle East.

MERS is a viral respiratory illness that is fairly new to humans, with only 1,142 reported cases in 23 countries since the first case was confirmed in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There currently is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, which has a very high fatality rate of 40.7 percent. (Yonhap)