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A deadly virus from the Middle East that causes severe acute respiratory illness has turned up in Indiana in the first known case in the United States. 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 virus — known as MERS, short for Middle East respiratory syndrome — first surfaced two years ago. Since then, 401 cases of the illness have been confirmed in 12 countries. Most have been in Saudi Arabia, and 93 people have died, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a news release.
The U.S. case involves a man in Indiana who traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned to the United States through London Heathrow airport to Chicago's O'Hare airport and then to Indiana by bus, the CDC says.
"This is a rapidly evolving situation," Assistant Surgeon General Anne Schuchat, who is also the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases,
originally posted by: ketsuko
It's bad news, but MERS is still not something that passes easily from person to person. There's a chance he's spread it to others, but it won't spread as easily as the common cold or yearly flu bugs.
Just keep an eye on things in case it comes to your neck of the woods. And start treating the world like there is a big bad flu epidemic in your area - stay away from crowds, wash your hands, disinfect, etc.