Thai health officials on Thursday said a 75-year-old man from the Middle East was confirmed to have MERS, the country's first case after a deadly outbreak of the virus hit South Korea.

"(The man) is from a Middle Eastern country. The (test) results confirmed that he has Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)," said Rajata Rajatanavin, Thailand's Public Health Minister said, adding the patient had travelled to the kingdom with his family over the last few days.