WHO: MERS not a global health emergency

The spread of the potentially deadly MERS virus is becoming more serious but is not yet a global health emergency, according to the WHO.

There’ve been more than 570 confirmed cases worldwide, mainly in the Middle East.

But several incidences have been diagnosed in Asia, Europe and the United States.

Our US correspondent Steve Mort reports from Florida, where twenty people are being tested.

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SCRIPT: According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is more serious and urgent. But the agency says it’s stopped short of declaring the health emergency so as not to "raise anxieties.” No new evidence, experts say, has been found to suggest increased human-to-human transmission.

Here in the US, two cases of the virus have been confirmed. One in Indiana and the other here in Florida. Both patients were healthcare workers who had traveled from Saudi Arabia which is experiencing an outbreak. While the cause is a mystery, some scientists believe it may be caused by contact with camels.

Dr Antonio Crespo, an infectious disease specialist in Orlando, where the Florida case of MERS was found, says everything possible is being done to contain the virus.

INSERT: “We are prepared for situations like this. This is what we do every day. We continue to work very closely with CDC and our Orange County Health Department to identify any potential persons that could have been exposed and to continue to monitor the contacts that we have identified.”

The CDC - or Centers for Disease Control - says it’s working with US border agents to help detect further cases of MERS entering the United States.

Signs are being posted at more than 20 major international airports warning travelers about the symptoms of MERS. So far about 30 percent of people who are infected with the virus have died from it.

In Orlando, the infected patient is said to be responding well to treatment and remains in quarantine.

But it’s believed the infected person waited for several hours in a busy waiting room to see doctors, and it was several more hours before he was tested for MERS.

Florida health officials say it’s very unlikely anyone nearby could have become infected, but 20 healthcare workers who came into contact with the patient are being monitored. Two, who showed flu-like symptoms, have tested negative for the virus.

Dr Ken Michaels is Medical Director of Occupational Health at Orlando Health which operates the hospital where the MERS case is being treated.

INSERT: “We had a total of seventeen Orlando Health team members and three physicians that have been notified of their possible exposure to the MERS virus // at this time, the team members have been brought in, they completed a CDC investigation form. They then were evaluated for any signs or symptoms that were consistent with the MERS virus.”

Infectious disease experts say more MERS cases are likely to be detected in Florida, not because of person-to-person transmission, but because the state is a popular destination for international tourists.

The White House says President Obama is getting regular briefings on the MERS cases in the US.

MERS is believed to be similar to SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome - first reported in Asia in 2003. That virus spread to 37 countries and killed more than 700 people before being contained.