Two health workers at a Florida hospital recently showed flu-like symptoms after being exposed to a patient diagnosed with MERS virus, raising concerns that authorities might not be able to contain spread of the disease.
At least 20 healthcare workers who have had contact with the patient were carefully monitored,including one doctor who flew to Canada shortly after visiting P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando. Officials attempted tracking down almost 100 people believed to have made contact with the patient when he visited two medical facilities in the Florida city.
One of the two workers was admitted to the hospital. The other worker was monitored in his home where he is currently being isolated.
The case in Orlando raised concerns of finding measures to prevent further spread of the infection. A greater amount of attention should be given to healthcare workers who are at a higher risk of contracting the disease due to their close contact with patients.
"We're not going to see the last of this," said director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County Dr. Kevin Sherin during an interview with Reuters. "We are going to see more cases coming to our community. All of the emergency departments in the United States, to be perfectly honest, need to become very familiar with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and make sure the protocols are in place."
The MERS case in Florida is the second reported case in the United States. Both cases involved healthcare workers who traveled to Saudi Arabia, where the virus was believed to have started.
Over 500 cases of MERS patients have been reported in the Arab state - 30 percent of which ended in death. All have shown common symptoms such as coughing, fever, and in few cases, fatal pneumonia. The disease has spread to neighboring countries including a few cases in Asia and Europe.
"Travel history is very important to ask about," said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to Reuters. Disease experts have advised hospitals to ask anyone who has fever or any respiratory illnesses if they have travelled recently to the Middle East.
