Now, CDC together with Indiana health officials are investigating the case. Although the virus is not classified as being highly contagious the federal agency announced it will track down every passenger that came in contact with the man in order to see if anyone else was exposed to the virus. More about MERS here.
Dr. Anne Schuchat told the press that as of now it is still unknown how the man got infected. A MERS outbreak began two years ago in Saudi Arabia and then the virus spread among health care workers. American officials did not provide details about the nature of the health care worker that was confirmed to be infected now with the virus. Furthermore officials refused to say whether he treated other MERS patients. A Columbia University MERS expert explained that MERS showing up in the U.S. is not something considered to be unexpected. The virus was already spotted also in Europe and in Asia. Dr. W. Ian Lipkin concluded: “Given the interconnectedness of our world, there’s no such thing as ‘it stays over there and it can’t come here”
Until now the only information that officials released about the man was that on April 24 he flew from Riyadh — Saudi Arabia to the U.S. with a stop in London. The healthcare worker landed in Chicago and from there he went by bus to Indiana. Only on Sunday did he feel sick.
