SEOUL, June 12 -- The number of South Koreans infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) increased to 126 on Friday as four more cases were added, the health ministry said.

Four more people were tested positive for the MERS virus, bringing the total contagion number to 126, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Among the new cases were three people contracting the virus from the 14th patient in three days from May 27 at the emergency room of the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul.

The remaining case was a 70-year-old woman who also caught the virus from the 14th patient at a hospital in Pyeongtaek, some 60 km south of Seoul.

The 14th patient, called super spreader, has infected more than 60 people at the Samsung hospital.