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| FILE - This undated electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows novel coronavirus particles, also known as the MERS virus, colorized in yellow. On Saturday, May 17, 2014 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an Illinois man has apparently picked up an infection from the only American diagnosed with a mysterious Middle East virus, but the man has not needed medical treatment. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- A respiratory virus that has sickened hundreds in the Middle East
has spread for the first time from one person to another in the United
States. The case has raised questions about how much contact is needed
to transmit the germ.
Middle East respiratory
syndrome, or MERS, has mostly spread before to health care workers or
family members caring for a sick patient. The two men in the U.S. were
together only in two business meetings.
But health officials say they don't find it alarming and that the risk of MERS to the general public remains low.
Q: How many people have gotten sick in the U.S.?
A:
Two cases of MERS have been confirmed in travelers who came to the
United States from Saudi Arabia, which has been at the center of the
outbreak. The first was an American doctor, in his 60s, who lives and
works in the capital Riyadh. Within days of arriving in Munster,
Indiana, he was diagnosed with MERS and hospitalized. Officials have
been testing anyone he was in close contact with after his arrival in
late April.
Q: Did he spread MERS to anyone?
A:
Yes, to a business associate, who didn't come down with MERS. The
Illinois man probably picked up the virus during a 40-minute meeting the
day after the doctor arrived; they met again the next day. He briefly
had cold-like symptoms but that could have been from a cold or allergy.
So far, health officials say tests have been negative for six family
members and 53 health care workers.
Q: If the Illinois man was infected, why didn't he get sick?
A:
Not everyone who gets the virus gets sick. An early test didn't detect
the germ but a later blood test showed he had developed antibodies to
fight an infection at some point. The man was reported to be feeling
well, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The doctor
who spread the virus has fully recovered. It's not known how he was
infected but he worked in a hospital that treated MERS.
Q: How infectious is it?
A:
It is not considered highly infectious. MERS does not spread as easily
as the flu or some other diseases. Officials aren't sure how it is
transmitted, but it is thought to be spread through sneezing and
coughing. While the U.S. encounter may seem too casual, investigators
say the Indiana doctor was feverish and not feeling well during the
40-minute meeting, in which they sat about 6 feet apart. "It doesn't
change our interpretation of who can get MERS from other people," said
the CDC's Dr. David Swerdlow.
Q: Where did the MERS virus come from?
A:
Some scientists think the virus that causes MERS first spread to humans
from camels, but research is ongoing to confirm its origins. The virus
causes a respiratory illness that begins with flu-like fever and cough
but can lead to shortness of breath, pneumonia and death. Since MERS
first appeared two years ago, about 600 illnesses have been reported,
including more than 170 deaths, most in Saudi Arabia.
Q: What about the second traveler sick with MERS?
A:
The 44-year-old resident of Saudi Arabia has been discharged from an
Orlando hospital, Florida officials
said Monday. The man - also a doctor
- fell ill while visiting Florida. All health care workers and family
members with whom he had contact so far have tested negative.
