CDC Confirms First Case of MERS in U.S.
Options
cobbland
Members Posts: 3,768 ✭✭✭✭✭
CDC Confirms First Case of MERS in US
NEW YORK May 2, 2014 (AP)
By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
Health officials on Friday confirmed the first case of an American infected with a mysterious Middle East virus. The man fell ill after arriving in the U.S. about a week ago from Saudi Arabia where he is a health care worker.
The man is hospitalized in Indiana with Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is investigating the case along with Indiana health officials.
Saudi Arabia has been the center of an outbreak of MERS that began about two years ago. At least 400 people have had the respiratory illness, and more than 100 people have died. All had ties to the Middle East or to people who traveled there. Infections have been previously reported among health care workers.
MERS belongs to the coronavirus family that includes the common cold and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which caused some 800 deaths globally in 2003.
The MERS virus has been found in camels, but officials don't know how it is spreading to humans. It can spread from person to person, but officials believe that happens only after close contact. Not all those exposed to the virus become ill.
But it appears to be unusually lethal — by some estimates, it has killed nearly a third of the people it sickened. That's a far higher percentage than seasonal flu or other routine infections. But it is not as contagious as flu, measles or other diseases. There is no vaccine or cure for MERS.
The CDC on Friday released only limited information about the U.S. case: The man flew to the United States about a week ago, with a stop in London. He landed in Chicago and took a bus to the neighboring state of Indiana. He didn't become sick until arriving in Indiana, the CDC said. Symptoms include fever, cough, breathing problems, which can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure.
CDC officials say they are sending a team to investigate the man's illness, his travel history and to track down people he may have been in close contact with.
Saudi Arabia health officials have recently reported a surge in MERS illnesses; cases have tended to increase in the spring. Experts think the uptick may party be due to more and better surveillance. Researchers at Columbia University have an additional theory — there may be more virus circulating in the spring, when camels are born.
U.S. health officials have been bracing for the arrival of one or more cases, likely among travelers. Isolated cases of MERS have been carried outside the Middle East. Previously, 163 suspected cases were tested in the U.S. but none confirmed.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/cdc-confirms-case-mers-infection-us-23568103
Comments
-
The user and all related content has been deleted.
-
He landed at O'Hare airport, where I'm not too far from.
Even if he didn't show symptoms until getting to Indiana, he already came in contact with thousands. -
The user and all related content has been deleted.
-
Black_Samson wrote: »
True.
But with all that's happening in Chicago right now, this city doesn't need anymore bad news. -
Somebody ? camels.
-
Great, more ? to worry about.
-
He landed at O'Hare airport, where I'm not too far from.
Even if he didn't show symptoms until getting to Indiana, he already came in contact with thousands.
I wouldn't be too worried, only 400 people have got it in the last two years, so it shouldn't be too contagious. -
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/health/indiana-mers/index.html
The patient is a health-care provider who recently traveled to Saudi Arabia to provide health care, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service and director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The person, an American male, traveled on April 24 from Riyadh to London, then to Chicago, and took a bus to Indiana, officials said. He began experiencing shortness of breath, coughing, and fever on April 27, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
The patient was admitted to Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, on April 28, the same day he visited the emergency department there, the health department said. He has been isolated and is in stable condition. He is receiving oxygen support, but does not require a ventilator, Schuchat said.
MERS unlikely to cause a pandemic -- for now, experts say
The virus poses a "very low risk to the broader general public," Schuchat said, as it has not been shown to spread easily from person to person.
The CDC and the Indiana State Department of Health are conducting a joint investigation into the case, according to a CDC statement. The CDC confirmed Indiana test results on Friday.
"The CDC, IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health) and CDPH (Chicago Department of Public Health) do not consider passengers on the flight or bus to be close contacts of the patient and therefore are not at high risk," said Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, director of the IDPH.
Passengers on the same plane and bus as the patient will be contacted by the CDC as a precautionary measure, starting Saturday, the Illinois statement said. If the CDC identifies ill individuals with possible MERS-CoV, it will notify health officials in Chicago and Indiana.
"There is no reason to suspect any current risk to travelers or employees at O'Hare Airport at this time," said CDPH commissioner Bechara Choucair. -
Good news I guess....not easily transferrable until it mutates
-
This some contagion type ? .
-
So the Zombie Apocalypse begins?
-
and it begins or nah
-
you know, the most interesting thing about this to me is the fact that the media hasn't really gone into full-on "? HERE'S THE NEXT EPIDEMIC" mode about it yet. i think we got a lot more press talking about the recent Ebola outbreak(s).
-
? all the diseased motherfuckas off and now you ain't got no sick ? .
![[Deleted User]](https://w1.vanillicon.com/v2/15efd8efe08bb34aae25f1808aaf5018.svg)
