Unidentified lung disease found in family members

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap)

-- South Korea has detected what could be seen as the first case of members of the same family suffering from an unidentified severe acute lung disease, the state-run disease control agency said on Sunday.

A 32-year-old woman and her 6-year-old daughter were hospitalized in Seoul after their lung tissues became hardened and they had difficulties breathing, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).The mother and the daughter, who currently rely on respirators to breathe, are waiting to undergo lung transplant surgery, according to the center. The CDC has conducted tests on tissue samples taken from them.The case is raising fears over the spread of an unknown virus, which might have caused the deaths of three pregnant women since May.

A 36-year-old woman died in early May in the intensive care unit at a Seoul hospital due to an unidentified virus, the first of its kind in Korea, after being admitted in April for tuberculosis. The woman was pregnant when she was hospitalized.

HATTIP RORO