The MERS in the Republic of Korea in 2015 caused by a single person who returned from travel in the Middle East. This made the Republic of Korea to be home to the second largest MERS epidemic with a total of 185 confirmed cases and 36 deaths. By 18 August 2015 a total of 1413 laboratory confirmed cases of MERS have been reported worldwide with  a median age of 50 years, including 503 related deaths. The mortality of MERS (approximately 35%) is much higher than that of SARS (10%)