Seoul, Oct 13 (IANS): The last South Korean patient who had been infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and discharged from hospital after being tested negative, was hospitalised again, the country's health authorities said on Tuesday.

The 80th infectee, was hospitalised again on Monday as he was confirmed positive with the MERS corona virus, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Health and Welfare as saying. He left hospital on October 1 after being tested negative twice.

Medical staffs treating the patient, who has already suffered from lymphoma causing immunity disorder, stressed the "near-zero" possibility for him to have infected other people.

The re-hospitalisation was expected to delay the official end to the country's MERS outbreak as the World Health Organisation ( WHO) recommends such announcement four weeks after the last patient is tested negative.

The deadly viral disease had infected 186 South Koreans since it was first found in the country on May 20.

South Korea became the most MERS-contagious nation outside the Middle East, with the combined death toll recorded at 36.