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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : May 13, 2014 12:17 PM IST
The second case of deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) which initially surfaced in Saudi Arabia in 2012 has been found in the US, health authorities said Monday. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the patient is a healthcare worker, residing and working in Saudi Arabia, and is unlinked to the first US imported case of MERS reported May 2 in Indiana.
The patient is isolated at an Orlando hospital, 'being well cared for, and is currently doing well', the CDC said in a statement. According to the US agency, the patient first flew to London and then through Boston and Atlanta, arriving in Orlando May 1. 'The patient reported feeling unwell during the flight from Jeddah to London and continued to feel unwell on subsequent flights with reported symptoms that include fever, chills and a slight cough,' it said. (Read: Time to take the MERS CoV threat seriously)
The patient was hospitalised last Friday and diagnosed with the MERS virus Sunday night. US health officials said that the patient may be infected with the virus in Saudi Arabia, where outbreaks of MERS infection are occurring. (Read: Kerala on high alert over MERS)
Source: IANS
What exactly is the MERS-CoV?
MERS stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome which is a viral illness that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.It is caused by a respiratory virus, a previously unseen variant of the coronavirus. It's very similar to a strain of coronavirus found in bats and not the same as the SARS virus that circulated in 2003.
Why we need to be worried
The problem with viruses like this is multi-fold. Vaccines and medicines are usually devised after years of planning and studying a particular pathogen so that we can contain them. Unlike seasonal influenza, healthcare professionals have no idea how to deal with unknown ailments, the way it spreads and how to contain it. The last time the world faced a situation like this was a decade ago when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out near Hong Kong where a local farmer died from the disease. In the next eight months, the disease affected over eight thousand people and caused 775 deaths in 37 different countries. The more worrying fact was that it had at its peak a fatality rate of 9.6% (almost one out of every ten people affected died) and despite the fact that the disease disappeared after early 2003, it's not believed to have been eradicated and the virus can still be lurking in animals. (Read: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) should you worry?)
With inputs from IANS
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