Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

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.