U.S. MERS Patient Recovering, No New Cases
The U.S. man who was verified as infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) on Friday is reportedly going home soon after making a speedy recovery from the potentially dangerous viral infection. Indiana health officials are reporting no new cases of the virus, but remain vigilant for signs.
The Indiana Department of Health released a statement early Sunday morning that the unidentified patient diagnosed with MERS remains at Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, after the infection was first confirmed.
According to the statement, it was initially suspected that the patient -- a healthcare professional who had been working in a hospital in Saudi Arabia before returning to visit family in the United States -- had some sort of respiratory infection, such a pneumonia, and precautions were immediately taken to reduce the chances of a potential outbreak.
The man reportedly told doctors that he had been working in a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he could have made contact with MERS patients. However, he did not remember working with any of the infected directly, according to a CNN report.
MERS, a potentially deadly viral infection, has been sweeping across the Arab Peninsula for months. While the mysterious infection was first identified in the Spring of 2012, it has only now started to spread to potentially pandemic proportions, becoming a threat to the world through international travel, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There is currently no known cure or the vaccine for the virus that may have originated in camels.
The WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both have previously reported that how the MERS virus spreads remains a mystery. However, the CDC revealed in a teleconference on Friday that they do not suspect that it spreads through sneezing.
While no additional cases have been identified, staff members who initially treated the MERS patient in Indiana have been place in temporary home isolation and are being closely monitored, according to Indiana Officials.
It reportedly take up to 14 days for the MERS virus to present itself in a victim, according to reports, so officials won't know for sure if efforts to isolate the virus have proven effective until late next week.
The Indiana release was published on May 4, midnight.
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