On Tuesday, South Korea was warned by the World Health Organization that the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on the country will likely grow. Currently, five new cases have emerged, and 1,364 people remain under quarantine.

The new MERS cases were reported today, bringing confirmed cases to 30 people since news of the first cases were reported in the country on May 20.

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Since the outbreak began, two people have died.

Reports said the South Korea outbreak is the largest to have occurred outside Saudi Arabia.

Because of the outbreak, people have been in widespread panic. As a result, more than 200 schools have been shut down to stop the virus from spreading, according to CNN.

Many were surprised with the scope of the outbreak, especially as South Korea's health care system is considered modern and sophisticated. MERS is also not known to spread quickly between humans.

Earlier this week, South Korean President Park Geun-hye recognized the country's problems.

"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," Park said.

On Wednesday, Park held an emergency meeting with regard to the outbreak.

Considered to be in the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, MERS had been first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. International cases were largely known from travelers who carry the virus back to their homeland. Deaths from the virus were known to have occurred in Oman, Algeria, and Malaysia, but not South Korea.

In early 2013, there had been 23 known MERS cases in Saudi Arabia, all in a single outbreak in four health care facilities.

Similarly, the outbreak in South Korea is linked to hospital infections.

The first case was reported to have come from a man, 68, who recently took a trip to four Middle Eastern countries. He returned to South Korea on May 4 and was not found to have had any symptoms during his flight.

A week later, the man began getting sick and got treatment from two clinics and hospitals. This reportedly resulted to the exposure of health care workers and patients in these hospitals. Because MERS was not inspected at the time, the man had not been isolated during treatment.

Meanwhile, China reported its first case of MERS last week. The case was of a South Korean man who broke rules of voluntary house quarantine and traveled to Hong Kong and mainland China after testing positive, according to Reuters.

MERS has no cure or vaccine. The CDC recommends hand washing, use of surgical masks, and avoidance of sick people to avoid infection.

While MERS continues to spread in South Korea, WHO remains hopeful that investigations will help scientists understand the virus better, reported USA Today.

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