First U.S. MERS patient improving, gets ready for discharge

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First U.S. MERS patient improving, gets ready for discharge

By Julie Steenhuysen MUNSTER, Indiana (Reuters) - The first U.S. patient to test positive for the often deadly MERS virus is off supplemental oxygen and walking around his hospital room in Munster, Indiana, as health officials begin planning the man's release, state and federal authorities said on Monday. Up to 50 hospital workers, as well as family members and close contacts of the patient who were monitored for signs of the virus have tested negative for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. "Every person who had contact with the index (infected) patient has been tested, and they all have tested negative," Dr Alan Kumar, chief medical information officer of Community Hospital in Munster, where the patient is being treated, told a news conference on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Friday that it had identified the first MERS case in the country, raising new concerns about the global spread of an illness with a high fatality rate and no known treatment.

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