MERS hospitalizes American after return from Saudi Arabia

                                                            Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS first surfaced two years ago. Since then, at least 400 cases of the respiratory illness have been reported.

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 centre 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 travelled 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 neighbouring state of Indiana. He didn't become sick until arriving in Indiana, the CDC said.
He was admitted to hospital in Indiana on April 28 and is isolated and in stable condition.
Family members and health-care workers are being monitored for symptoms. Passengers who travelled on the plane and bus with the infected patient will be notified, the CDC said.
Symptoms of MERS 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.

Cases not a crisis

U.S. health officials have been bracing for the arrival of one or more cases, likely among travellers. Isolated cases of MERS have been carried outside the Middle East. Previously, 163 suspected cases were tested in the U.S. but none confirmed.
Likewise, health officials in Canada have been on the look out for MERS since it was identified.
"Obviously all of us who work in hospitals, people who staff emergency departments are watching for cases," Dr. Allison McGeer, a microbiologist and infectious disease consultant at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital said on Monday.
"Having those cases is not a crisis. Having those cases, we just need to detect them early and manage them well," said McGeer, who has helped investigate the MERS coronavirus in Saudi Arabia as part of a World Health Organization-led team.
"Any infectious disease is just a plane ride away. The fact that a disease is a plane ride away does not make it a catastrophe. It does make it something of concern."
So far, the CDC said 262 people in 12 countries have been confirmed as having MERS. Of those, 93 have died. More than 100 other patients have been confirmed with MERS, but haven't yet been included in WHO's count.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said it was working with its U.S. affiliates and the current risk to Canadians is "very low."
"The health and safety of Canadians remains our priority and we will continue to provide the information they need and ensure they are protected," a spokesperson said.