Two staff members at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital subsequently reported their own flu-like symptoms. The facility admitted one staffer for observation and sent the other one home. Both tested negative for MERS. At the same time, authorities in the U.S. and England were tracking down airline passengers who might have come in contact with the patient on his recent travels from Saudi Arabia to Orlando. He had taken flights from Saudi Arabia to London and subsequently from London to Boston to Atlanta and then finally to Orlando.
During a news event to discuss the Florida case last Monday, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said, “Our experience with MERS so far suggests that the risk to the general public is extremely low.”
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the spread of MERS in the Middle East and beyond is not a global health emergency despite a recent spike in cases.
The Florida case surfaced three days after U.S. MERS patient No. 1 was released from an Indiana hospital May 9. He also was a healthcare worker visiting the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. MERS is not known to spread by casual contact, but rather by prolonged close contact, the type of contact healthcare workers in facilities treating MERS cases might have, CDC and other health officials said.
The Florida Health Department, perhaps seeking to head off possible damage to Orlando's important tourist trade, issued a statement last Wednesday saying “there is no broad risk of MERS-CoV (coronavirus) infection for the general public and there is no threat to those traveling to the Orlando area. MERS-CoV is not easily spread. The case in Orange County is contained.”
