Reading between the lines here,  it would appear that MERS has become more contagious and is spreading easier between humans.   Looks like it mutated a bit.   If we see the cases jump to 50 - 60, I would say a pandemic could be imminent.

South Korea grapples to contain MERS as 1,364 in quarantine

So far, two people have died after contracting the respiratory virus in South Korea in the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia. More than 540 schools have shut to prevent the spread of the virus, according to South Korea's education ministry.

The extent of the outbreak in South Korea has taken many by surprise -- mainly because the virus has not been shown to spread easily between humans and the health care system in the country is considered to be sophisticated and modern.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye acknowledged problems in the country's early response earlier this week.

"Initial reaction for new infectious diseases like MERS is very important, but there were some insufficiency in the initial response, including the judgment on its contagiousness," she said.

She convened an emergency MERS meeting on Wednesday.

MERS is in the same family of viruses as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) as well as the common cold. However, MERS does not spread easily between humans -- as far as scientists know at this point.

"So far, the virus has been circulating in humans for three years," said Dr. Leo Poon, a virology expert at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, who worked on the SARS outbreak more than a decade ago. "We found little transmission in human. We know there is human-to-human transmission, but it's not sustainable."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/03/world/south-korea-mers/index.html

Something interesting in the USA Today article below at the bottom.  I'm probably a little slow


<snip>

Another man infected with MERS in South Korea traveled to China on May 26, against his doctor's orders, and was diagnosed a hospital in that country three days later. The man had symptoms of MERS during his travel, the WHO said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/02/mers-spreads-south-korea/28373087/


Comment:  If that is true, he undoubtedly infected others on the plane.    We're probably going to see countries simultaneously reporting cases within a week.  Almost a slam dunk.  This situation could quickly get out of control in the next few days.    They should be tracking everyone on that plane, but it could be too late.   This is not to factor the casual contact of others at the airport, let alone the plane itself.   

13 people who had contact with Guangdong MERS patient sought
Xinhua 2015-06-01 13:35 (GMT+8)
Authorities in south China's Guangdong province are still trying to reach 13 people who had close contact with the country's first Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patient.

A man from the Republic of Korea was tested positive for the deadly MERS virus in Guangdong on Friday. He is receiving medical treatment in the city of Huizhou with doctors saying his situation has worsened, the provincial health and family planning commission said Sunday.

Meanwhile, the number of people who had been in close contact with the patient rose to 77 in Guangdong, the commission said. Among them, 64 have been quarantined while 13 others, including 11 passengers on a bus boarded by the man, have remained out of contact.

None of those quarantined has showed any abnormality.

The commission said more medical specialists were sent to Huizhou on Sunday to help with the treatment.

The man, 44, flew from South Korea to Hong Kong on Tuesday and entered Huizhou via Shenzhen. He had close contact with MERS patients at home and expressed discomfort as early as May 21.

The patient is the son of the third confirmed MERS case in South Korea and the brother of the country's fourth confirmed case.

MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of coronavirus. The first case was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, which has a fatality rate of 40.7%.


http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150601000080&cid=1103

Yep - more than likely. We've seen it happen too many times to think this will be any different.

I'm hoping patient zero was a super spreader who went UN-diagnosed for too long and that's why it's exploding in S. Korea! We're only talking 35 cases after almost a week, lets hope that number doesn't increase. If this were pandemic influenza it would already be too late!

Albert- I hope you're wrong but fear you're right! It's spreading in S. Korea like it never has before so something is different!