Hong Kong's health authorities said Monday they have quarantined two more people who have developed fevers after recently returning from separate trips to South Korea.
  

A 21-year-old woman has been treated under isolation after returning from South Korea to Hong Kong on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection said in a statement.
  

Another 66-year-old man was found to have a fever after he arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday from a 10-day trip to South Korea.
  

The two people, who have been treated at the Accident and Emergency Department of Princess Margaret Hospital, were in stable condition.
  

"Travelers should avoid unnecessary visits to health-care facilities in Korea. In addition, travelers to the Middle East should avoid going to farms, barns or markets with camels, and avoid contact with sick persons and animals, especially camels, birds or poultry. They should also avoid unnecessary visits to HCFs," the statement said.
  

Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities have stepped up surveillance against MERS after a 44-year-old South Korean man flew to Hong Kong on May 26, a day after his father was diagnosed with MERS in South Korea, and subsequently went to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong by bus.
  

In Guangdong, he was confirmed to be infected with the virus and has been treated under quarantine at the Huizhou Municipal Central Hospital.
  

South Korea reported its first MERS case on May 20. So far, a total of 87 MERS cases have been reported in South Korea and five people have died of the virus.
  

MERS is a viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012, according to the World Health Organization.
  

The virus, which causes a fever, cough and shortness of breath, has infected more than 1,100 people and more than 400 people have died from it, WHO said. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the virus. (Yonhap)