WHO: two cases of MERS coronavirus confirmed in the USA

In the US, the third case of human infection with the deadly Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus has been reported, RBC Daily reports citing Reuters.

The patient is a resident of Illinois who became infected from an American who was first diagnosed with this disease in the United States. He, in turn, became infected in Saudi Arabia and has now been discharged from the hospital.

The second case of infection in the United States was confirmed by an 44-year-old male who arrived from Saudi Arabia. He was hospitalized in Florida.

MERS is a virus that is new to humans. It first became known in Saudi Arabia in 2012. As of May 16, there were 572 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection in 15 countries, with 173 deaths.

The majority of those infected have acute respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. So far, experts do not know for sure the place of origin of the virus and how exactly it spreads. There is also no vaccine and no specific treatment method has been developed.