The unidentified man does not have an active case of Middle East respiratory syndrome, CDC officials said Saturday. But blood tests show that his immune system has made antibodies to fight the MERS coronavirus -- an indication that he has been infected.

Unlike the two U.S. residents who have been diagnosed with MERS -- one in Indiana and one in Florida -- the Illinois man has not traveled to the Middle East, where the virus first appeared in 2012. However, he met with the Indiana patient twice and had close contact with him during those visits, according to the CDC.

Dr. David Swerdlow, the epidemiologist in charge of the CDC’s MERS response, told reporters that the two men were conducting business meetings, during which they shook hands. The first of the two meetings, on April 25, had them sitting face-to-face about six feet apart for more than half an hour. The second meeting, on April 26, was shorter.

The Illinois man was never sick enough to seek out medical care. Health officials tested him as part of their investigation into all the known contacts of the Indiana patient, a healthcare worker who returned from Saudi Arabia four days before he was admitted to Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., on April 28.

Health officials will now reach out to people who have been in close contact with the Illinois man to "notify, test, and monitor" them, according to the CDC.

“It’s possible that as the investigation continues others may also test positive for MERS-CoV infection but not get sick,” Swerdlow said in a statement.

Local health officials have been keeping tabs on the Illinois man since May 3. His blood test results showing MERS antibodies were reported to the CDC on Friday night.

As of Saturday, the Illinois man is “feeling well,” the CDC says.

So is the Indiana patient, who was identified as the first case of MERS in the U.S. on May 2. He has been discharged from the Munster hospital and is “fully recovered,” according to the CDC.

The Florida patient is also a healthcare worker who traveled from Saudi Arabia to Orlando to visit relatives there. He began to experience flu-like symptoms on a plane from Jidda to London on May 1. He was admitted to a hospital on May 8, where he is currently “isolated” and “doing well,” the CDC says.

There is no link between the Indiana and Florida patients.

DNA evidence indicates that the virus that causes MERS originated in camels before mutating in a way that allowed it to spread to humans. So far, it does not appear to spread easily among people -- cases of spread involve close contact, such as between patients and their healthcare providers.

But health officials are worried about the virus because people do not have any natural defense against it, and it has been fatal in about 30% of known cases. As of Thursday, the World Health Organization has announced 572 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS, including 173 deaths.

Symptoms of the respiratory infection may include shortness of breath, coughing and fever. The CDC urges people to protect themselves by taking routine precautions such as washing their hands, disinfecting germy surfaces and avoiding people who are sick. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for MERS.

At this time, there is no need for Americans wishing to vist the Arabian Peninsula to cancel their plans, the CDC says. Travelers should monitor their health while overseas and once they return, according to the agency.

“This latest development does not change CDC’s current recommendations to prevent the spread of MERS,” Swerdlow said. “If new information is learned that requires us to change our prevention recommendations, we can do so.”

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mers-illinois-patient-cdc-20140517-story.html

Three cases in U.S., but risk of MERS low in Canada, agency says

Canada’s public health agency says the risk posed by MERS remains low despite the U.S. reporting its first apparent transmission of the new coronavirus between people.

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which surfaced in Saudi Arabia in September, 2012, has not been detected in Canada, but three cases of the SARS-like virus have emerged in the United States. The most recent infection involves an Illinois man who may have contracted the virus from an Indiana man, the first MERS case reported in the U.S.

The Indiana resident, who recently returned home from working in health care in Saudi Arabia, was admitted to hospital this month. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspect the virus may have spread during a 40-minute business meeting where the pair shook hands.

The Illinois resident did not require medical treatment and is feeling well. Health officials stressed they don’t believe the case suggests the virus is spreading more easily among people. Scientists have linked most human cases of MERS to camels.

In Canada, more than 3,000 individuals have been screened for MERS, which can cause coughing, fever, shortness of breath and pneumonia. The Public Health Agency’s national microbiology laboratory has diagnostic tests available that can rapidly detect the virus, noted spokesman Stéphane Shank.

“The risk to the general Canadian public remains low,” Mr. Shank said in an e-mail.

The World Health Organization has reported 572 cases of MERS, including 173 deaths. With a death rate of about 30 per cent, MERS is proving far more fatal than SARS, which had a death rate of 10 per cent and killed about 800 people worldwide. Forty-four of those deaths were in Canada.

Richard Schabas, Ontario’s former chief medical officer of health, believes the province is better prepared to deal with emerging viruses as a result of its experience with SARS.

“We’ve learned to ask the crucial questions,” said Dr. Schabas, medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit. “Ninety-five per cent of your protection against a disease like MERS is to ask the right questions: Have you been to Saudi Arabia or do you have a close family contact who has been to Saudi Arabia and come home sick?”

Those questions are being asked at Mount Sinai Hospital, said Allison McGeer, head of infection control at the Toronto hospital. If MERS is suspected, the patient is moved to a private room in the emergency department and health workers take extra precautions, such as wearing masks, face shields, gloves and gowns.

Dr. Schabas doesn’t believe the latest U.S. MERS case will prompt Canadian health officials to alter monitoring and preparedness efforts. Neither does Dr. McGeer.

“At the moment for Canadians, the risk is obviously really, really small,” she noted. “This is a disease in which all of the primary cases have been in the Arabian peninsula, most of them in a single country.”