“Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is an illness caused by a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
“MERS affects the respiratory system (lungs and breathing tubes). Most MERS patients developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath.
“About 3-4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died.
“Health officials first reported the disease in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. Through retrospective investigations, health officials later identified that the first known cases of MERS occurred in Jordan in April 2012.
“So far, all cases of MERS have been linked to countries in and near the Arabian Peninsula.
“MERS-CoV has spread from ill people to others through close contact, such as caring for or living with an infected person.”
Read more at CDC.gov
