In brief: S. Korea bolsters efforts against virus

SEOUL, South Korea – A fifth person in South Korea has died of the MERS virus, as the government announced today it was strengthening measures to stem the spread of the disease and public fear.

Sixty-four people have been infected by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since last month in the largest outbreak outside the Middle East. Hundreds of schools have closed and hundreds of people quarantined.

Acting Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said today there is no reason to believe the virus will spread significantly further in the country.

“So far, all the MERS cases have been hospital-associated, and there has been no case of an infection in other social settings. We think we have a chance at putting the outbreak under total control,” Choi told a news conference.

The virus has no vaccine, and health experts say it spreads through close contact with infected people and not through the air.

The U.N. health agency has reported that there’s no evidence yet in South Korea of “sustained transmission in the community.”

Israeli airstrike follows missile attack

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike in the Gaza Strip in response to the latest rocket attack toward southern Israel.

There were reported casualties in this morning’s strike. It comes on the heels of the third rocket attack from Gaza in the past two weeks.

A Jihadist Salafi group that supports the Islamic State group again took responsibility for the rocket attack. The group is mired in a struggle with Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Israel considers Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible for any attacks originating from the area they control.

Israel announced that its border crossings into Gaza will be shut down in response to the latest incident.