The Center for
Disease Control (CDC) reports
MERS is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. It was first reported in Saudi
Arabia in 2012. Most patients with the
disease develop fever, cough and shortness of breath with a third of them
dying. The virus spreads from patients with the disease to others in close
contact. However, there is no evidence of sustained spreading in community
settings.
On May 2, 2014, the
first U.S. imported case of MERS was confirmed in a traveler from Saudi Arabia
to the U.S. The patient flew from Saudi Arabia via London to Chicago and by bus
to his final destination in Indiana. He
was diagnosed, placed in isolation, and treated for a week and half at a hospital
in Munster Indiana. Following his
treatment he was declared in good health and was released. On May 11, 2014, a second U.S. imported case
of MERS was confirmed in a traveler who also came from Saudi Arabia. The
second patient, in Orlando, Florida, is a medical professional from Saudi
Arabia who was visiting family in Florida.
On May 16, 2014, an Illinois resident who had
contact with the first case of MERS in the U.S. tested positive for MERS-CoV.
The World Health Organization states that it
doesn’t yet see the MERS outbreak as sufficient to declare an international
emergency. A WHO committee concluded
that though it is extremely concerning, the outbreak was not a public health
emergency as transmission has largely taken place in hospitals, not in the
general community.
According to the CDC, MERS is considered a deadlier
but less transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that appeared in Asia in 2003
and infected 8,273 people, 9 percent of whom died.
Like SARS it causes lung infections, with patients
suffering coughing, breathing difficulties and a temperature. But MERS differs
in that it also causes rapid kidney failure.
Currently, there is no vaccine or treatment for the virus. Health authorities say it is transmissible
mainly through close person-to-person contact and in health care settings.
Since
MERS appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012, authorities have recorded 514 infections
and 157 deaths. Saudi Arabia “accounts
for the vast majority of the 171 deaths and 571 infections from the virus
globally. While most recorded cases have been seen in
Saudi Arabia, other neighboring countries where cases of MERS have been appeared
are Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, and
Lebanon. Countries with travel-associated
cases are United Kingdom, France, Tunisia, Italy, Malaysia, Turkey, Greece,
Egypt, the Netherlands, and the United States of America.
