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Two people in South Korea have died from the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Korea Herald reported Tuesday, citing the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, according to Sputnik.

According to the Ministry's spokesperson, the two victims were a 71-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman.

According to the local media, as of Tuesday morning the number of confirmed cases of the disease in the country stood at 25. Some 680 people who may have come into contact with the infected patients are being held in quarantine at their homes or in hospitals.

Middle East respiratory syndrome is a viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (MERS‐CoV). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the typical symptoms of MERS include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, there have been about 1,200 cases of MERS registered since March 2012, when the disease was first identified. Of them over 1,000 cases occurred in Saudi Arabia and 76 — in the United Arab Emirates. The disease has killed 479 people.