South Korea was apparently nearing an end to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak as no additional cases have been reported over the past 15 days, officials here said Monday.
  

The number of MERS patients stayed unchanged at 186 as of Monday, and the death toll also remained flat at 36 with no additional fatalities reported over the past nine days, according to the officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
  

The officials have said the country may be able to declare an end to the outbreak early next month if the country continues to see no new cases of the disease. South Korea reported its first case of the potentially deadly disease on May 20.
  

As of Monday, 14 of those diagnosed still remained hospitalized, and 136 have been discharged following complete recoveries.
  

Currently, 22 people, including the 14 patients, were in isolation as eight people remained as suspected cases. The number of people in isolation dropped significantly from 68 on the previous day.
 

So far, nearly 16,700 people have been subject to isolation for possible infection after coming in close contact with MERS patients with 16,671 of them released as of Monday after showing no symptoms of MERS for more than the known maximum incubation period of 14 days for the disease.
  

Also signaling an apparent end to the MERS outbreak, Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul, blamed as an epicenter of infections, resumed its normal operations on Monday.
  

The hospital had voluntarily shut down most of its operations on May 14 as nearly half of all infections occurred there.
  

The temporary shutdown was later extended by the government, which, on Friday, announced a resumption of services as no new infections cases have occurred at the hospital since July 4.
  

MERS is a viral respiratory disease that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The disease had carried a fatality rate of more than 40 percent until the outbreak here. In South Korea, the fatality rate currently stands at 19.4 percent. (Yonhap)