US reports second case of MERS virus

WASHINGTON DC, United States – A second case of the dangerous Middle East respiratory virus, called MERS, has been found in the United States, health authorities said Monday, May 12.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health are investigating the “imported” case and will release details during a press conference at 2 pm (1800 GMT), a CDC statement said.

The US announced its first case last week, a healthcare worker who had traveled to Riyadh at the end of April.

He was released from the hospital on Saturday and is considered “fully recovered,” the Indiana Health Department said.

Middle East Respiratory Virus, or MERS, causes fever, cough and shortness of breath, and can be lethal particularly among older people and those with pre-existing health problems.

Some 30% of the several hundred people infected with it have died, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus first emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and recent research has suggested it may originate in camels.

According to the World Health Organization’s latest count on May 9, MERS has killed 145 people out of 536 lab-confirmed infections.

The vast majority of cases have been in Saudi Arabia, but MERS has also been found in 16 other countries. Most cases involved people who had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia.

The World Health Organization is planning to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss the MERS crisis. – Rappler.com