| CNN | - |
(CNN)
-- The first U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
coronavirus has been reported in Indiana, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said Friday.
MERS makes first U.S. appearance, in Indiana
updated 4:10 PM EDT, Fri May 2, 2014
Your video will begin momentarily.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: The patient is a health care provider who traveled to Saudi Arabia
- MERS coronavirus was first reported in 2012 in the Middle East
- Saudi officials have noted a recent spike in cases
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.
The patient is in an
Indiana hospital, has been isolated and is in stable condition, she
said. He was receiving oxygen support, but was not on a ventilator.
Saudi officials see spike in MERS virus
Health workers infected with coronavirus
Gupta: MERS outbreak linked to camels
Killer coronavirus in the Middle East
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 coronavirus, known as MERS-CoV, was first reported in the Middle East -- specifically, the Arabian Peninsula -- in 2012.
Laboratory testing has
confirmed 262 cases of the coronavirus in 12 countries, including the
Indiana case, Schuchat said. Ninety-three people have died.
So far, all MERS cases have been linked to six countries on or near the Arabian Peninsula, Schuchat said.
The Saudi Ministry of Health has reported 339 cases, and said nearly a third of those have died. Not all of the Saudi cases have been confirmed by the World Health Organization.
Late last month, Saudi officials noted a spike in new cases.
The CDC has expected MERS to come to the United States, Schuchat said. "We have been preparing for this."
However, "The introduction of MERS-CoV is another reminder that diseases are just a plane ride away," she said.
MERS-CoV comes from the
same group of viruses as the common cold and attacks the respiratory
system, according to the CDC. Symptoms, which include fever, cough and
shortness of breath, can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure.
No one knows exactly how this virus originated, but evidence is emerging implicating camels. In a recently published study in mBio,
researchers said they isolated live MERS virus from two single-humped
camels, known as dromedaries. They found multiple substrains in the
camel viruses, including one that perfectly matches a substrain isolated
from a human patient.
The same group of
researchers reported in February that nearly three-quarters of camels in
Saudi Arabia tested positive for past exposure to the MERS coronavirus.
Although many of the
cases have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula, people have died of the
infection elsewhere, including in European countries and Tunisia in
North Africa. Egypt reported its first case on April 26, according to
the WHO.
Limited human-to-human
transmission of the disease has also occurred in other countries --
meaning some people who traveled to the Middle East gave the virus to
others.
Officials are not aware
of any other confirmed U.S. cases, Schuchat said, adding it's too early
to assume no one else is ill. An active investigation is underway.
end quote from:
No comments:
Post a Comment