Story highlights South Korean health official says outbreak has "leveled off" there

Patient in Thailand had traveled to Bangkok from the Middle East to receive treatment for heart disease

He is being treated in Bangkok; his condition is said to be stable

(CNN) Thailand has confirmed its first case of MERS, representing a further spread of the deadly respiratory disease from the Middle East to eastern Asia, Thai Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said Thursday.

A man was diagnosed with MERS after he traveled to Thailand from a Middle Eastern country on June 15, Rajatanavin said.

He was being treated in a private hospital in Bangkok on Thursday where his condition was said to be stable.

Thailand would be the 26th country with confirmed Middle East respiratory syndrome cases since the disease was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

The patient was in Thailand to receive treatment for heart disease, and was taken to the hospital when he displayed flu-like symptoms.

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