(Bloomberg) – U.S. public health authorities say they have learned about a second case of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) – a potentially deadly viral illness – appearing in the United States.
A patient infected with the MERS coronavirus case turned up in Orlando, Fla., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The patient in Florida is a health care worker who had come to the United States from Saudi Arabia, is now in the hospital, and is doing well, CDC officials said.
The first known U.S. MERS case occurred in an Indiana health care worker who returned from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 24, CDC officials said.
The Florida traveler has no known connection with the Indiana traveler.
The MERS-CoV coronavirus had infected at least 538 people and killed 145, officials said.
Health authorities in 12 countries have confirmed treating patients with MERS.
