News that a man infected with the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus has been identified in the US received extensive coverage since Friday. On Friday, network news broadcasts devoted more than four minutes of coverage to the story. Stories followed on network news broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday. All major US newspapers and wire sources have been following the story. Most stories feature quotes from officials at the CDC. NBC Nightly News (5/2, story 6, 2:05, Holt) reported, “The first case of a deadly and mysterious virus that until now had confined itself to the Middle East has turned up in the US in Indiana. It’s a respiratory virus more lethal than the flu. It’s called MERS.”
ABC World News (5/2, story 5, 0:30, Sawyer) reported that the patient “had recently returned from Saudi Arabia, flying to Chicago, taking a bus to Indiana.” Now “he is in isolation in an Indiana hospital.”
On the CBS Evening News (5/2, story 3, 1:35, Pelley), the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat was shown saying, “We are working with partners in England and others around the world to make sure the people who were on the airplanes are contacted and notified to be on the lookout for signs or symptoms.” CBS’ Dr. Jon Lapook added, however, “The CDC believes this first US case represents a very low risk to the general public.”
On the ABC World News (5/3, story 7, 1:30, Muir) Saturday broadcast, ABC’s Senior Medical Contributor Dr. Jen Ashton said, “There’s no evidence the virus has spread here in the US, but the CDC will not breathe a sigh of relief until they’ve contacted all passengers on that plane and bus.”
On Sunday’s broadcast, NBC Nightly News (5/4, story 3, 0:30, Holt) reported, “Health officials in Indiana say” the man “is in good condition and improving.”
USA Today (5/5, Hampson) reports, “Since MERS appeared two years ago, the World Health Organization has confirmed infections in 262 people,” 93 of whom “have died.” Another “100 people have tested positive for the disease but are not included in the health organization’s tally, according to” Dr. Schuchat.
The Washington Post (5/5, Sun) quotes CDC Director Tom Frieden as saying, “In this interconnected world we live in, we expected MERS-CoV to make its way to the United States.” Frieden added, “We have been preparing since 2012 for this possibility.”
The Wall Street Journal (5/5, McKay, Subscription Publication) reports that there is currently no vaccine or treatment for the virus, according to the CDC.
The New York Times (5/3, McNeil, Subscription Publication) reported, “The typical incubation period for MERS is five days, and the patient is not known to have infected anyone else.” While “airline passenger lists will be used to contact everyone who sat near him,” due to the fact that “bus companies often do not know who bought tickets or who sat where, ‘that bus ride may be a challenge,’ said Tom Skinner, a C.D.C. spokesman.”
Reuters (5/5, Steenhuysen) reports that in an exclusive interview, Dr Michael Bell, deputy director of the division of healthcare quality promotion at the CDC, said, “We take this very seriously,” adding that “in a worst-case scenario, this could spread rapidly.”
The San Francisco Chronicle (5/5, Allday) reports that Dr. Schuchat said, “We should not be surprised if additional cases are identified among health care providers who had close contact with the patient. People will understandably be concerned by the news.”
The AP (5/5) points out that “staff members at the hospital who had direct contact with him before he was isolated have themselves been placed in temporary home isolation and are being monitored.”
In a separate story, USA Today (5/5, Weintraub, Stanglin) reports, meanwhile, that “Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) offered reassurance to state residents.” Pence stated, “I want to assure every Hoosier that we have deployed the full resources of the Indiana State Department of Health to engage in tracking this case, assessing the risk to the public and working together to prevent the spread of the virus.”
The Chicago Tribune (5/5) reports, “The Indiana State Department of Health is working with the hospital, the” CDC “and others to monitor the situation and prevent the spread of the virus.”
The NPR (5/5, Silver) “Shots” blog reports that currently, the “CDC does not recommend any change in travel plans for the general public.” However, “it does suggest that anyone who has visited countries in or near the Arabian peninsula and who develops a fever, cough or shortness of breath within 14 days should see a” physician. Also covering the story are the NBC News (5/5, Fox) website, theLos Angeles Times (5/5, Khan) “Science Now” blog, Reuters (5/5, Steenhuysen, Begley), The Hill (5/5, Neff), the AP (5/5, Stobbe), andBloomberg News (5/5, Edney, Wayne).
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