MERS - Now widespread Human to Human Transmission

[MaryN]

Just don't kiss it, Jonas!

[CharlesHarris]

Useful links:

MERS, Coronavirus FAQ:
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/faq.html

MERS infection prevention and control:
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/infe...ntrol.html

Third US MERS case:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/825371

....The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on May 17, announced the first instance of apparent human-to-human transmission of the dangerous Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) on US soil.

An Illinois man recently tested positive for antibodies against the virus after 2 business meetings in late April with a man who was later hospitalized for MERS in Indiana. The Indiana patient, who represents the first confirmed case of MERS in the United States, had just arrived here from Saudi Arabia, where he was a healthcare worker. In the longest of the 2 business meetings, the men were together for 40 minutes within 6 feet of each other and shook hands, according to the CDC.

The Illinois man, described as a business associate of the Indiana patient, later developed mild cold symptoms but did not seek or need medical care. The Indiana patient was discharged from the hospital on May 9.....

CDC Still Considers MERS a Low Risk to the General Public

The case of the Illinois man seems to follow a different narrative line than that in the cases involving the Indiana patient and another patient in Orlando, Florida, who was the second person in the United States diagnosed with the virus. In both cases, the patients were healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia — the hotbed of the MERS outbreak — who presumably became infected on the job before visiting the United States.

As of May 16, the World Health Organization had received reports of 572 confirmed cases of MERS in 15 countries, including the United States, since the coronavirus was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012, according to the CDC. Most of the individuals experienced acute and severe respiratory illness characterized by shortness of breath, cough, and fever. Of the 572 people with the virus, 173 died.

So far, roughly 20% of cases worldwide have involved healthcare workers. MERS-CoV spreads more easily in the close quarters of a hospital or home where someone is caring for an infected patient, the CDC states. In community settings, where contact with an infected person would be more casual, the virus does not easily spread from person to person. Accordingly, the CDC has declared that MERS-CoV poses only a low risk to the general public.

The transmission of the virus from the Indiana patient to the Illinois man at a business meeting does not change "the risk to the general public or have any significant changes to our public health practice," said Dr. Swerdlow. More cases similar to the most recent one may pop up occasionally, he said, "but it's not sustained transmission, and it's certainly not easy transmission."

Dr. Swerdlow noted that the CDC has investigated some 60 individuals, including 53 healthcare workers as well as the Illinois man, who were officially classified as close contacts of the Indiana patient. None of them had an active infection, and none of them were ever hospitalized, he said.

No evidence of human-to-human transmission has turned up so far in Florida, the Florida Department of Health announced in a news release today. All healthcare workers exposed to the Florida patient, as well as his household contacts, have tested negative, the Department of Health said. The patient with MERS himself was discharged yesterday from Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando.