Seoul:South Korea\'s health ministry on Monday confirmed 23 more cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome -- MERS virus, bringing the total to 87 in the country.

Out of the 23, 17 were from the same Seoul hospital emergency room where the country\'s first patient was hospitalised from May 15 until being confirmed MERS-positive on May 20, the ministry said.

The remaining six new cases came from two hospitals in Daejeon city, Xinhua reported.

An 80-year-old man who had tested positive for MERS, also from Daejeon, died on

Monday, taking the number of deaths from the outbreak to six.

South Korea became the world\'s second-most MERS-contagious country after Saudi Arabia, where over 1,000 cases have been identified since the first case was reported in 2012.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is slated to send a team to South Korea this week to review and assess the situation.

South Korea MERS cases surge to 87