Health officials in the United Kingdom are investigating two suspected cases of Middle Eastern Respiratory Virus Syndrome (MERS) at a hospital in the city of Manchester, in northern England. The two suspected patients were placed in isolation at Manchester Royal Infirmary and the hospital briefly shut down its emergency department. One patient was then moved to North Manchester General.
There should be no significant risk to others at the hospital or in the general area, according to the Central Manchester University Hospitals Trust. "Both patients were isolated for on-going management of their condition while tests took place," the hospital said in a statement. "Results of the tests are still pending."
The hospital's emergency department-or A&E, for Accident and Emergency department as they are called in the UK-is now reopened.
An infection with MERS causes coughing and fever and can lead to fatal pneumonia and kidney failure. It was first identified in Saudi Arabia, but an outbreak occurred in South Korea due to one infected person returning from a visit to the Middle East. MES has also been imported by travelers to at least 25 countries worldwide since it first emerged in 2012.
MERS kills about four in 10 of the people it infects. It is a coronavirus, similar to the virus that triggered China's deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). It is also a relative of the common cold virus, although is not as infectious as a cold or flu.
Even if these two UK cases are confirmed to be MERS, the risks of there being an outbreak in Britain are small, according to health experts. Because of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, there is far more awareness in the UK of infectious diseases that could come travel in from other countries. There is a greater amount of experience in handling patients with dangerous viruses.
