Seoul, Jun 17 (IANS): Eight new Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cases were reported in South Korea on Wednesday, taking the total to 162, the health ministry said.

Among the new cases were five people contracting the virus at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, where the patient 14, called super spreader, has infected nearly 80 people, Xinhua news agency reported.

One Samsung hospital doctor, 33, was included in the list of new infectees.

The remaining three cases caught the virus each at the Hallym University Medical Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, the Gangdong Kyunghee University Medical Center in Seoul and a small clinic in Pyeongtaek, about 60 km south of Seoul.

No death was reported, leaving the death toll at 19. Among 124 infectees under treatment, 18 people have been in unstable conditions.

Two patients were discharged from hospitals as they completely recovered after being infected. It raised the total number of hospital discharge to 19.