According to ABC News, officials in the US have confirmed their first case of an unusual illness that has caused many in the Middle East to fall sick. MERS is categorized among the coronavirus family that includes the common cold and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which caused some 800 deaths in 2003 across the Globe.
The illness (MERS) was confirmed in an American man who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia where he worked in the health field. Reports suggest that the man has been diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (or MERS) according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Indiana officials.
Saudi Arabia has been at the centre of this illness according to ABC reports. While CDC has not issued travel advisories, the Federal agency is asking anyone who has travelled to the Middle East and who develops a fever, cough and shortness of breath within a two week window of travel, to report the matter to the doctor and ensure that they mention travel details.
The virus is not highly contagious and “represents a very low risk to the broader, general public,” Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters during a CDC briefing. Over 400 people have contracted the disease and 100 people have died. Most of those that the CDC says were ill did have some relationship with the Middle East region or to those who had recently travelled to the oil rich region.
The man, who is in good condition, is hospitalized but doctors are not sure how he was infected. CDC intends to track passengers to determine whether they have been exposed or infected much like the scenario in the film “Contagion”.
“So far, it is not known how he was infected”, Schuchat said.
It is also not known whether the hospitalized man treated anyone with MERS.
MERS has shown up in Asia and Europe
“Given the interconnectedness of our world, there’s no such thing as ‘it stays over there and it can’t come here,'” said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University MERS expert.
Doctors indicate that the virus has been found in camels but they are unable to state how it spreads to humans. It does, however, spread from human to human after close contact. The disease has killed a third of all those who have contracted it, experts say.
Despite the illness, The CDC has issued no warnings about travel to countries involved in the outbreak. (Original source: By MIKE STOBBE)
