First MERS case reported in Germany

The third person to have suffered from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in Germany has died. However, the local Health Ministry said it was not MERS that killed him.

The 65-year-old man, who contracted MERS during a trip to the Arabian peninsula in February, died of "another, subsequent lung disease," a statement by the Lower Saxony Health Ministry says.

According to local media, the man had undergone successful treatment for MERS and almost recovered. In mid-May he was transferred from an infection ward of the Osnabruck clinic to a hospital in Ostercappeln.

There are no indications so far that the man infected others. Some 200 people he had contact with were tested for MERS, and all the tests were negative, according to Die Welt newspaper.

So far, there have been only two MERS cases in Germany. In March 2013, a 73-year-old patient from the UAE died in Munich and the other one underwent treatment in Essen.