five to 15 day incubation period of mers. mers was first detected in saudi arabia in 2012. since then 538 cases have been identified across the globe. of those case he 145 people have died. saudi arabia is the epicenter of mers where most cases and most deaths have occurred. the virus is characterized by a effective fever, cough and shortness of breath. officials say you can't get it by casual contact, it's spread by having close contact with a person, caring for someone with it. 27% of people who get mers will likely die. there is no vaccine and no specific treatment recommended. but researchers at the university maryland school of medicine hope they are closer to creating a vaccine. >> we are several stems before we get to humans. all of the vaccine the preparations have taken time to do testing and to do clinical trials. that is not a rapid process unfortunately. >> health officials say there's a great deal they don't know about where mercer comes from or how the virus spread. take common sense pleasures, wash hands frequently and avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth. natash

mers has spread to at least 18 countries so far, including the u.s. 171 people have died from mers across the globe. the concern has significantly increased in both seriousness and urgency. there are two confirmed cases in the u.s. one in indiana. the other more recent in florida. in both cases, so far, not fatal. the carriers flew into the u.s. from saudi arabia. flew. flew. think about that. tight, confine spaces. recirculated air. planes are like incubators for these diseases. defense secretary chuck hagel passed through a thermoimaging cameras. elizabeth cohen is outside the hospital. do we know if people who were in contact with the person in florida have mers? >> we know that they don't. the testing in florida turned out to be negative. a number of health care workers had contact with this person, 18 or so. two of them had indeterminant testing. as we speak, behind me, they're doing some testing at the cdc to try to get a yes or a no. i want to add that that patient in florida is now doing much better. the patient is now fever free and improving. >> this country with a new virus for

a negative pressure isolation room where mers patients can be treated in american hospitals.nt that moves virus-exposed air into a super filter. >> the idea behind it is to not circulate any germs or viruses to other parts of the hospital. >> reporter: american health care workers have been told to heavily screen patients who have mers symptoms like coughing and fever, to ask them whether they have been to the middle east recently. they're making caregivers wear protective glove, eyewear, gowns, and -- >> this is the n-95 mask that our health care workers wear. >> reporter: a mask that provided more filtration. these are safeguards in big city hospitals, but some small towns might not be as prepared because their health departments have been hit with major budget cuts. >> we might not have the number of epidemiologists or laboratoryians or others in the public health field who are responsible for investigating these cases or monitoring the surveillance systems that are in place to identify infectious diseases like mers. >> reporter: in small towns or big cities anywhere, medi

an illinois man becomes the first case of mers infection on u.s. soil. how he got it and why doctors didn't know he was sick. >>> triple crown trouble. the unstoppable california chrome runs in to a snag on his quest for history. one small piece of equipment that could shut down his bid before belmont. >>> also this morning -- ♪ >> the king of pop back from the dead. the bizarre high-tech resurrection of michael jackson at the billboard music awards. it is monday, may 19th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now" with john muller and diana perez. >>> good monday morning, everybody. diana, are you okay? you are coughing away here. fighting a cold, huh? topic of conversation a while ago that we didn't have a cold all winter and now it is spring. >> you jinxed me. >> you certainly jinxed me. >> i knocked on wood. >> you said nobody has gotten a cold around me. not two days later i was hacking up a lung. >> doozy. >> here i am. >> hot tea coming? >> yes. hopefully i will be able to get through this. >> good monday morning, everybody. we begin w

the world map of the mers virus. this is from the mers map. it shows that there have been 636 infected, 194 have died -- this is updated about 11 hours ago -- and there's a 30.5% fatility rate. paul in florida, independent caller. hi, paul. >> caller: hi. >> good morning go ahead. >> caller: yeah, in the middle '90s i had my gallbladder out, and right after that i started getting these little -- and i went to the doctor and they gave me antibiotics. the next day after the looked like a pumple, a golf-ball-size, and this happened three times and started happening on my face. so i told the doctor, can't deal with this on my face. and finally went to a special doctor, an infectious disease control doctor, and it was called mrsa, with an a on the end. it was wondering what the difference that was. he said -- gave me this stuff and i put it on the end of a cotton stick and put it up as far as i could -- >> host: so, -- dr., michael people. people have heard of mrsa. what's the difference? >> guest: they are about as different as could possibly be.

autoridades siguen la enfermedad mers.ocasiÓn que este virus se transmite de persona a persona. lucÍa nos cuenta cÓmo se produjo quÉ se puede hacer para prevenir. >> por primera vez el misterioso y mortal virus del sindrome del medio oriente conocido como mers habrÍa sido transmitido de persona a persona en los estados unidos. >> funcionarios de salud creen que este tercer caso un hombre se infectÓ en una reunión de trabajo de 40 minutos con un individuo de indiana que visitÓ arabia saudita. en dicho encuentro el contacto fue un apretÓn de manos. >> no sabemos exactamente la transmisiÓn de mers hasta ahora. lo estamos estudiando todavÍa. pero es obviamente... es transmisiÓn por gente cerca de uno y tambiÉn parece que hay riesgo con ciertos animales. >> mers se reportÓ por primera vez en arabia saudita en el 2012. es una enfermedad de infecciÓn provocada por el coronavirus. investigaciones indican que podrÍa estar vinculado con los murciÉlagos que lo propagaron a los camellos y estos a las personas por medio de carne y los

mers can be deadly.case, though, was mild and did not last long. >> number two, more residents are expected to head home today in southern california to see what devastating wildfires left behind for them. better weather conditions helped firefighters get the upper hand on some of those fires and allowed officials to lift the evacuation orders. >>> san antonio mayor julian castro is the president's choice to be the new secretary of housing and urban development. castro gave the keynote address at the 2012 democratic national convention. he's expected to be nominated as part of a shuffle that began with the retirement of hhs secretary kathleen sebelius. >>> joe abramson's shortcomings included "arbitrary decision-making, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues." cnn confirmed abramson will deliver the commencement speech tomorrow at wake forest as was scheduled. >> although will not speak at brandeis today. >>> new president of the naacp says he's deeply humbled and honor to lea

stresses that americans in general are at low risk of contracting mers. tests of more than 50 people in the u.s., who had contact with the two confirmed mers cases, at this point, showed no symptoms scot, today this latest patient no longer has the virus. >> pelley: mark strassmann in our atlanta news room. mark, thank you very much. one city council plans to crack down on bullying by making kids pay up. california chrome wins one today by a nose. and storm chases catch a towering super-cell taking shape when the "cbs evening news" continues. g news" continues. a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain ÑiÑiçóÑiÑiçóÑiçóÑiÑciÑ'iÑiñrñrçf serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infe

mers is a new virus for humans. so we're learning more about the modes of transmission and the types of exposure. as the doctor from the cdc pointed out in the briefing, improving and enhancing prevention control in hospitals is a key component of our strategy. >> professor mcnabb, one of the things that elizabeth cohen had just reported, our medical correspondent, was that the good news, if there is any with regard to mers is that it actually -- this is a virus that hasn't shown to be easily spread in community settings person to person. is that still our belief at this time? >> yes, that is what we understand, based on the types of viral genomic testing done. so it means that we have to understand better the way it's transmitted and what are the risk factors. it's a good thing in terms of -- >> my concern is that so many people have flu-like symptoms. my colleague who's two offices down from me had flu-like symptoms. the last thing we're going to think is we're in the offset of a deadly disease. how much time does

it's the nerve center where they're tracking the mers virus. off to my right there are people who are making phone calls to passengers on the plane with the mers patient in florida. they want to know, did anyone else get sick. on this monitor a map displays the 34 states where the passengers live. >> we are basically trying to reach everybody. we're administering a short questionnaire that you have here, making sure they're well. >> reporter: so, what kind of questions are you asking? >> have you had a fever? that's a temperature greater than 100.4. have you had any cough? >> reporter: the passengers are likely not sick. they didn't have close and prolonged contact with the mers patient. most at risk family members and health care workers. that's why this box was rushed here. it contains specimens from health care workers who came in contact with the mers patient. that box of specimens arrived here at the cdc's viral disease lab. now, we're not allowed in because this is bio-safety hazard level two and that means no visitors. but all day inside

. >>> mers. if you don't know what it is, listen up.middle east respiratory syndrome, has hit home. it is potentially deadly, because it has no known treatment. right now there is one patient with mers in this orlando hospital. a hospital worker exposed to this patient has also been admitted, while 20 other hospital workers were ordered to go home until tests confirmed they did not contract the virus. also, the tsa plans to put up advisories about mers. at 20 airports across the country. i'll take you to orlando in three minutes. but first, brian todd has more on mers for you. >> reporter: a creeping, contagious and potentially deadly respiratory virus has reached the u.s. and created a legitimate health scare. two orlando area health care workers exposed to a patient with mers have been treated for flu-like symptoms. one of those workers is in isolation. >> it all happened before the proper isolation precautions were initiated. so these people were in contact with a patient without a mask. >> reporter: officials say about 20 health car

the spread of mers and measles dr. ann shook, the director of the cdc's center for immunization and respiratory diseases joins us now. dr. shooket, the return of measles with such epidemic vengeance, what's behind us? >> it's more than 50 years since the measles vaccine was introduced in the united states and we've had huge progress around the world with substantial reduction in worldwide deaths. now 122,000 children still die from measles each year but it used to be more than a million that die from measles. here in the united states, we have eliminated the spread but now it's breaking through again, 216 cases again this year and it's we feel because a lot of parents aren't getting their children vaccinated. >> in the mind of american health workers? >> the majorities, we are having measles imported to the united states. travelers going to countries where measles is still circulated, bringing the virus back and spread into communities where few people have been vaccinated. overall most children are vaccinated against

two workers exposed to a patient with mers have been treated with flu-like symptoms. one of those workers is in isolation. >> it all happened before the proper isolation precautions were initiated. so these people were in contact with the patient without a mask. >> reporter: officials say 20 health care workers in two hospitals in the orlando area may have been exposed to the mers vir rus. it started in the saudi peninsula but has spread around the world. it originated from camels but you can get it by breathing in. most of those who have gotten it have been health care workers. >> we can infect one person to another. we have droplets of the fluid being inhaled by the other person or being in contact with the other person. >> reporter: it attacks the respiratory system. why is it so scary? it's deadly and spreads through the body faster than the similar sars virus a decade ago. the 530 patients have died, experts say, compared to 10% of the sars' victims. >> there's no vaccine or treatment for it. >> reporter: meaning patients survive only by getting the symptoms trea

mers has been compared to the sars outbreak of more than a decade ago. now the middle east respiratory syndrome has hit the united states with a third person to test positive. dr. nancy snyderman has more. >> reporter: an illinois man has tested positive for mers. two other state side cases in indiana and florida have also been reported over the last month. >> about two years ago, persons having close contact with camels, either in caring for the camels or consuming camel products began to develop this infection. >> reporter: the virus now spreading from human to human. the previous patient, a u.s. resident who travelled from saudi arabia for business, reportedly met with the latest illinois man on two separate occasions. worldwide as of friday, there have been 572 confirmed cases in 15 countries. 173 people have died. >> we have to be very careful about just giving people this false sense of security, but we have to state that the problem is largely limited to the middle east. >> reporter: at least 20% of patients are asymptom mattek, but most have deve

there are two mers cases.ost recent in orlando flew around the country. >> are they going to have to trk efr one on those flights? >> not necessarily. the people that were in close contact with that patient. so if you were sitting near that person, one or two seats, yes, you're going to be interviewed. if you're sitting several rose and that patient did not walk close to you, there's no reason to even be concerned. >> the other mers patient in the u.s. flew from saudi arabia to london and london to chicago and then took a bus from chicago to indiana. >> the patient had extended exposure to others closer in on the bus ride. it's not clear how good the ventilation system was. all of those bus passengers will have to be tracked. >>> we turn to california now. san diego residents are returning home after fleeing a wild fire that threatened their homes. strong winds pushed the flames across more than 300 hectares. that's about 800 acres. fire officials say they issued 5,000 evacuation notices but fortunately no one

mers has been passed within two people within the u.s. border.eth cohen joins me out. >> two men who contracted it? nsaudi arabia and traveled to the united states. this one here on u.s. soil caught it from two mers patient during a business meeting. the newly infected man was falling ill they met 40 minutes and sitting within six feet of one another and she shook hands. the next day they had another meeting and this one shorter and when they did testing on this new patient, they found that he had been infected with mers. it's important to say that he hadn't been very sick or perhaps not even sick at all. so it seems that mers affects people in different ways but what is interesting here is that we have been talking about mers as something you get from family members or a doctor and a patient gives to a doctor. this was two business meetings, the longest of which was 40 minutes. >> yeah. that is obviously, concerning. the cdc earlier today saying it was close contact between these two individuals but this does not sound very close at all. this mu

the incubation period for mers is 2 to 14 days.nization now says it is not recommending that agencies use thermal imaging cameras, wolf. they say they don't do much good in this case. >> health officials around the world, airlines around the world are trying to learn more about the passengers, the potential threat out there. >> that's right, wolf. they're scrambling do learn more and working with the cdc and others to track these passengers. at least two major u.s.-based carriers who we believe carried two patients into the u.s. are working closely with the cdc trying to contact those passengers, contact crew members, make sure they're okay and get them to a doctor to get them diagnosed one way or the other. really scrambling to find these people. >> we found the posters they're putting up in airports giving a specific warning to folks. >> warning you specifically if you've been in the region of the arabian peninsula any time recently and have symptoms, a lot can feel like a common cold, cough, shortness of breath, get to a doctor

samadi, first of all, mers, middle eastern respiratory syndrome. why did it start in the middle east and what could shoo we look out for. >> the source is not clear. we think it's coming from camel meat or bats but we're still investigating. cdc is looking into this. the truth is there's about 400 cases. numbers are low. this is a difficult bug meaning mortality from this is 25 to 30%. it's difficult to get this bug. once you have it, it's a very high risk. much worse than sars and much worse than, of course, any kind of other coronavirus. so if you have traveled to middle east and you have shortness of breath, cough, any kind of fever, cdc has told doctors to isolate that patient, put them on isolation contact and we need to investigate. unfortunately there's no vaccine, no real good treatment except taking care of the symptoms. we want people to be aware of this. i'm convinced we're going to see not just one case, we're going to see more of these coming to the country. the globe has become extremely small through the travel. we're going to get so

we will talk about the mers virus. what is mers?guest: it is related to the sars virus that spread several years ago. it is normally an animal virus. it can spread to humans. it can cause a severe respiratory infection. host: what does it stand for? it stands for middle eastern respiratory syndrome. the arabian peninsula is significantly affected by the virus. we have seen cases throughout the region. there is information that it seems to be a link with camels. that is not completely pinned down at this point. that is an early clue that that might be part of the animal pathway. host: why would that be the source? guest: it is interesting. when viruses get into the human world, the path can be mixed. the meatth sars that animal in markets seemed to be the original source. who weher infections have seen bats be a source. they are not necessarily the direct source. they transmit the infection to pigs or horses. animals in between the original source and humans can be part of the pathway. they can be very difficult to pin down. host: ho

question number one, will we see more mers cases this week? a third case of the middle east respiratory syndrome confirmed in the u.s. a man in illinois who had contact and a business meeting with an infected indiana man tested positive for mers but what makes this case worrisomwo the first case passed on two people on u.s. soil. cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen visited the cdc with a look how the top scientists are working to combat the spread of the virus. >> reporter: it's going to be a big week at centers for disease control. they have to finish interviewing more than 500 passengers who rode in planes with the patient in florida who has mers, they have to find out, are they feelingic, are they willing to have a blood test. >>>? i was at cdc's emergency operation center where they're handling the response. a map displays 34 states where the passengers live. >> we are basically trying to reach everybody. we're administering a short questionnaire here, making sure they're well. >> reporter: what kind of questions are you ask

and mers is not always fatal.'re told that the illinois man who tested positive is not showing symptoms and in good health. >>> breaking overnight, the pled of south korea dismantling her coast guard and promising to remanager her government. he said south korea owes it to the hundreds who died as a growing number of south koreans call on her to step down. let's bring in paula hancocks from seoul. a big country move but this is a country that is angry and grieving over one necessary loss of life. >> absolutely, christine, it's more than a month since the ferry disaster and emotions are fairly raw here. and it was a much more emotional president speaking to her people. president park geun-hye actually cried. taking responsibility for the pain people were going through. and she did cry when she spoke of the people she called heroes. not just crew members, but passengers who gave up their lives to try and save others. this is what she said. >> translator: i believe people are the real people in that generation. i pro

y para para responder algunas dudas de lo que estÁ pasando con mers,nos acompaÑa el doctor, tenÍamostuaciÓn, vamos a decir mundial, del nÚmero de casos de mers en comparaciÓn con estados unidos. >> bueno, bÁrbara, básicamente lo que esta sucediendo es que el mers es un virus respiratorio, que en inglÉs se conoce como... porque surge en arabia saudita donde estÁn la mayorÍa de los casos, mÁs de 700 casos se han reportado, llevan meses que se estÁn reportando, sin embargo, hace poco se empezaron a reportar los casos en estados unidos, como bien mencionaste ya hay 3 casos reportados en estados unidos y por eso la alerta, porque lo vemos como algo muy separado en otro continente, pero hoy dÍa cuando existen aeropuertos internacionales y la gente viaja de un lado a otro. >> cÓmo se transmite? >> se transmiten por contacto con alguien que estÁ enfermo, al principio se creÍa que las personas que se contagiaron en arabia saudita era por los camellos, pero tambiÉn se ha probado que las personas se pueden contactar de persona a persona, por ejemplo profesionales de la salud que estÁn atendiend

some people infectioned with mers show no symptoms at all.wing no symptoms could be a symptom-- symptom. so if you are feeling great right now t may be too late. (laughter) of course the cdccd says there's no reason to panic because there have only been three known cases of mers in the united states. but look at the person to your left, then look at the person on your right. they are three people right there and within of them is you. and while science may not know how it spreads, they have pinpointed the origin of middle east respiratory disease. and on this one science sounds a little racist. >> experts say it may originate with camels. >> about two years ago persons having close contact with camels either in carring for the camels or in particular consuming camel products begin to develop this infection. >> saudi arabia warns those dealing with camels to take precautions. the ministry of agriculture urge people would come in contact with camels to exercise caution and follow preventive measures. >> stephen: they're blaming camels. now peop

maybe not. >>> then, the mers virus, it's now spreading in the u.s.u're never going to believe how. >>> and the story of a vietnam vet who has been for decades how could he not be a citizen. >>> at&t is buying directv in a deal worth $50 billion. >> with that consolidation and reduction of competition we see prices mostly going up for consumers. >>> an illinois man who had a business meeting with the indiana patient has also tested positive for mers. >>> this whole area was nothing but fire and smoke. >> what do you need to do to prepare for the season that still lies ahead? >> we're expecting extreme conditions month, fires this year. >>> california chrome has won the preakness! >> you have to have a very good horse to win these three days races, and i'm hoping i've got one. >>> new this morning, a corporate shake-up that could affect millions of tv watchers. at&t has reached a deal to buy satellite tv company directv for almost $50 billion with a "b." after the comcast/time warner merger that could leave true companies to choose. let's bring in chri

one is mers, middle east respiratory syndrome, the other is fear, so we have to be careful how we report this. there's around 400 cases since 2012 which shows that at least at this point it doesn't have what we call a high infectivity rate. in other words, if somebody has it, it's not likely that someone near them willt it. the reason this doctor brought it from the middle east, arthel, he went to saudi arabia to specifically treat patients with it. not a surprise that he caught t.plane fred can spread it. they are now isolating him. not on oxygen or on a res prayeror and will likely careful and if they are very careful it won't spread to people around him. back in 2003 we had a cousin of this mers called sars, a very similar corona virus, the common cold is another corona virus, to give you an idea. when sars came out, everyone was really afraid of it, and we started to isolate and quarantine, and in the end it ended up infecting 7,000 people. that's not nothing, but it's not the magnitude of what anyone thought. but, last point. we have an emerging verse here. we don't have a treatment

we begin with the first case of mers transmitted on u.s. soil. federal health officials believe an illinois man picked up the virus after shaking hands with an indiana man. >> now, centers for disease control investigators are trying to figure out how to keep the potentially deadly virus from spreading any further. an unidentified illinois businessman is believed to be the first mers infection transmitted right here in the u.s. at first he tested negative but a follow-up test showed his body fought off the potentially fatal disease. >> every single case is different. it is a spectrum of possibilities and we're trying to learn as much as we can. >> reporter: public health investigators are keeping an eye on this patient's for examples and family in close contact while he was infected. they say he probably caught mers during two business meetings with the man they're calling patient number 1, a health professional who worked in saudi arabia with mers patients and brought the disease stateside last month. >> this virus is more easily transmissible t

bell, what is mers? >> guest: mers is related to the sars virus that spread throughout the world several years back. it's a virus that is normally an animal virus that can spread to human beings, and when it does, it can cause in some people a severe respiratory infection. >> host: what does it stand for? where did the name come from? >> guest: mers stands for middle eastern respiratory syndrome. the arabian peninsula is significantly affected by the virus. we've seen a lot of cases throughout the region. there seems to be a link with camels, although that's not completely pinned down at this point. that is an early clue that might be part of the animal pathway. >> host: why would that be the source? is where else could the source come from? >> guest: you know, it's interesting, when viruses get into the human world from an an maul reservoir -- animal reservoir, the path can be mixed. we saw with sars that it seemed to be the original source that was getting into human beings that way. with other infecti

another case of mers is confirmed. we are going to break down the very latest developments what you need to know about this after the break. >>> welcome back, everyone. some disturbing health news to report right now. a second case of the deadly mers virus has been confirmed in the netherlands. and here in the united states, where there are also two confirmed cases, health care workers in florida who came in contact with an infected saudi resident, they have tested negative, this as the world health organization issues a new warning calling the spread of the virus more urgent. 570 cases of mers have been identified since 2012 with nearly one-third of them fatal. that is a very high fatality rate. want to bring in max foster live from london. max, what can you tell us about these new cases? >> well, there are now two cases. the first case was a 70-year-old man. he was in saudi arabia at the beginning of may, hospitalized on the first of may in medina, but he wasn't diagnosed until two weeks later when he was back in the

case of the potentially deadly mers virus.t patient has already visited saudi arabia where that virus has affected hundreds of others. >> reporter: there's good news here on two fronts, one, the patient whose name has not been released remains hospitalized and is improving every day. two, as of now, no other cases of mers verse has been identified. the man is the first american to be affected with mers or middle east respiratory syndrome. there's been hundreds of cases of mers since discovered in saudi arabia in 2012 killing a quarter of those infected. the symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath. it spreads person to person through close contact. though scientists still don't know how the virus is spread and there is no vaccine. the patient has been in isolation at the community hospital in munster, indiana since monday. now the man was providing health care in saudi arabia when on april 24th he took a flight from reed to london and from there took a bus to indiana potentially putting him in contact with hundreds.

could he still have spread mers? >> experts tell me he could have.some point in time, the virus was in his nose and mouth. at that point, he could have spread it. when someone has a respiratory virus, any virus, they can spread it. they're not going to be good at spreading it. they probably don't have a lot of the virus in their respiratory system. someone who is really sick spreads it more efficiently. but could this man have spread it? yes. >> hundreds of people have been on the airplanes with the indiana patient, the florida patient. some with them for many hours. do we know if any of the individuals on the planes have contracted mers? >> you know, the cdc is still running tests to see if anyone was infected with mers. as far as we know, no one was very, very sick on the flights. that is good news. we're talking a lot of flights. one from london to chicago. one on a flight from london to boston. then boston to atlanta. atlanta to orlando. that's many, many hours of sitting sort of knee to knee, very close to someone. it will be very interesting to

a third case of mers.s patient didn't contract the disease from an exotic trip but from a american business meeting. >>> and the terrorist group targeted with kidnapping hundreds of girls in nigeria. i'm john berman. >> and i'm christine romans. the top story, at&t is buying directv. a merger that will affect 30 million customers. the price tag nearly $50 billion. it will ultimately make it the second largest provider in the country behind comcast. comcast announced it would buy time warner cable for $35 billion three months ago. regulators are scrutinizing the deals to make sure no decreased competition or hurt customers. a sentiment echoed by proponents on the internet. >> buyers should be very aware. not only could it affect their current plans or offerings but it means there's less place for new offerings or new models to come from. >>> the at&t ceo randall stephenson said it will offer new bundles and deliver content to consumers across multiple screen, mobile devices, tvs, laptops, cars even airports

do health care workers have mers? >> right, florida, the state of florida tested these patient, and they say no, they don't have mers. that's according to the centers for disease control. now, specimens from these two health care workers arrived here at the cdc this morning in atlanta. and as we speak, the cdc is retesting these specimens to make sure florida got it right. we're sure now the tests are negative and they're working to confirm that. >> posters are going up at airports warning about mers. i've seen those. do passengers, all passengers need to be worried about getting this virus? >> all passengers don't need to be worried. what the cdc says, if you've come off a flight from the arabian peninsula and you have certain symptoms like a cough or fever, you should talk to your doctor. if someone gets off a flight from the arabian peninsula and they seem ill, airline employees are told, pull that person aside and call the cdc, which has offices at airports, wants to talk to these passengers. if you're not going t

mers can lead to viral pneumonia. it's caused by a virus that is common in camels for decades but only discovered in humans in 2012. there is no known vaccine to prevent its spread. recently spoke about april's 73% spike in infections. >> hopefully that we will -- >> this is a scene that the world could see soon if antibiotic medicining can fight the medicined. they're encouraged only to use antibiotics when prescribed by a doctor, fully completing prescriptions and never sharing medicine. the who said drug resistence is a serious threat which has the potential to affect anyone of any age in any country in every region of the world. >> to help you better understand why drugs that work so well for so long are increasingly not much help against disease we're joined by a doctor from the center for bio security. dr. annie sparrow, deputy director of the human rights director at mount sinai hospital in new york, and geneva, switzerland, the doctor who leads the team studying answered microbial resistence. let's go back to

there are a lot of fear and questions about mers. we'll get you the answer he you need from a doctor, but first, mysterious information about an illness. jake ward. >> middle east respiratory descroax or mers is a virus that calls, the reason that this first american case is of such concern is that there's no specific treatment, vaccine or cure for mers. all the hospital can really do is provide treatments that alleviate the symptoms in some way. they can't actually turn the illness around. here's the thing. it's a very dangerous illness. of the 262 cases reported by the whrworld health organization, an unvaccinated person, a ann anthr are acute respiratory syndrome or sars, all they can do for this person is isolate them, give them oxygen and hope other people didn't come in contact with them. they came in the middle east, to indiana, an uncovered cough or sneeze or significant time in close proximity could have pred it. spread it. developing a vaccine could help, but mers until now has been a pretty rare affliction. it just hasn't

mers was first detected in saudi arabia in 2012.ce then 538 cases have been identified across the globe. of those cases 145 people have died. saudi arabia is the epicenter of mers, where most cases and deaths have occurred. health officials say you can't get the virus by casual contact. it is spread by having close contact with an infected person, such as caring a person with it. 27% of people who get mers will likely die. there is no vaccine or specific treatment recommended. but researches hope they are closer to creating a vaccine. >> we're several steps before we get to humans. all of the vaccine -- the preparations take time to do all of the safety testing and clinical trials. >> reporter: health officials say there is still a great deal they don't know about where mers comes from and how it is spread. in the meantime, people are asked to take common sense measures such as washing their hands frequently and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth. unfortunate this latest patient is expected to recover. >>> the head of the sec

how big is the level of concern over mers in the obama administration? >> i think you really hit it there, jake. the concern about mers has now reached the highest levels of the government. this has been on the front burner for quite some time. many federal agencies, homeland security, health and human services, the centers for disease control, the national security council. but now at the point where the president himself is getting briefed, despite a low number of cases in the united states, a handful of people and protected, this is being seen as a homeland security matter with lots of updates across the administration. it's because the threat has crossed the border, it's being carried here by plane by saudi arabia. also, because the number of cases abroad has simply increased so dramatically. lisa monacco, counterterrorism in the white house would be the person taking the lead on that and also the person actually doing the briefing for the president of the united states. press secretary jay carney saying the cdc, of course, has taken all of this very

a third american has now tested positive for the mers virus. the first time, the person contracted the virus right here in the united states. in this case, it was passed from a patient in indiana who had previously been in saudi arabia where virtually all of the recent cases originated. this case may also have come from casual contact which was earlier thought to have almost been unheard of when it comes to mers. but are u.s. hospitals ready for some kind of outbreak? brian todd is joining us. he's been look at this part of the question. how vulnerable is the u.s. health care system to this potential disaster out there? >> it certainly could be vulnerable in some places. hospitals in the u.s. are ramping up. with this new case, the fir one believed to be transmitted within the u.s., in addition to the existing two cases inside the united states, we went to some hospitals to look at how they prepared. serious new warnings from disease specialists on the potentially deadly virus. >> we definitely should expect more cases. >> reporter: experts say

two cases of mers in this country. the first two cases in united states were people who got infected in saudi arabia and got on a plane and came here. those cases were reported in indiana and florida. now health officials say an illinois man who had a business meeting with the indiana patient has also tested positive for mers. >> this potential person that is maybe the third case that was transmitted had just basically business transactions with this individual. so no unique travel history of their own and no travel history since. >> the cdc says during a meeting on april 25th the two men were sitting within six feet of each other talking. the only physical contact they had was shaking hands. the next day they had another meeting, this one shorter. this was a week before the indiana patient was confirmed to have mers. >> a cdc doctor says the illinois man was never really sick, but now the cdc wants to test people he came in contact with, because even without symptoms, it's possible he could have spread the deadly mers