sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
file:///C:/Users/pcowner/Documents/MERS%20Key%20Points%2005292014.pdf
New:
Updates on Ongoing Investigations of Contacts
CDC and state and local public health officials continue to conduct voluntary testing of people who had
contact with the two MERS patients who had traveled from Saudi Arabia to the United States - one person
in Indiana, the other in Florida.
o To date, public health and hospital officials have monitored the health of the family members and
healthcare staff that had close contact with the two U.S. patients with MERS, and collected and
tested specimens from them.
o CDC has also contacted almost all of the people who were on the flights with the two travelers and
on the bus with the first traveler. CDC continues to do follow-up interviews and voluntary testing
with them.
As part of these ongoing investigations, State and CDC labs are conducting two kinds of laboratory tests to
identify MERS-CoV infection.
o One type of tests conducted by state and CDC labs, are called PCR, or polymerase chain reaction,
assays.
PCR tests are done with respiratory samples and can quickly indicate if a person has active
infection with the MERS virus
o A second type of testing used by CDC?s labs is called serology testing.
Serology testing uses blood samples and is designed to look for antibodies to MERS-CoV
that would indicate if a person had been previously infected with the virus and developed
an immune response.
Serology for MERS-CoV includes three separate tests ? (1) ELISA or enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay, (2) IFA or Immunofluorescent assay, and a third more definitive test
called the neutralizing antibody assay. The neutralizing antibody test takes longer than the
other two tests.
On April 25, 2014, an Illinois resident had extended face-to-face contact during a business meeting with the
first case of confirmed MERS in the U.S., shortly before the case was hospitalized in Indiana.
o Health officials identified this person as part of the contact investigation and had been monitoring
his health daily since May 3.
o He initially tested negative for active MERS-CoV infection by PCR in the days after his interaction
with the confirmed MERS patient.
Given the Illinois resident?s contact with the MERS patient, CDC chose to conduct serology testing to see if
the Illinois resident had antibodies to MERS-CoV.
o The initial, preliminary ELISA and IFA results indicated the possibility that the Illinois resident had
been previously infected with MERS-CoV.
Based on these results, CDC notified and tested the people with whom the Illinois resident had close
contact in the days following his interaction with the Indiana MERS patient to be sure that no one else had
become ill and to prevent any possible further spread of the virus.
After completing an additional slower, but more definitive laboratory test ? the neutralizing antibody test ?
CDC has concluded that the Illinois resident was not previously infected with MERS-CoV.
Public health officials have informed the Illinois resident of the additional serology test results and the final
conclusions.
To date, active MERS-CoV infection has not been found in any of the contacts of the two people in the
United States confirmed to have the disease. However, investigations, including voluntary serology testing
of contacts, are ongoing and the situation could change.
New:
Updates on Ongoing Investigations of Contacts
CDC and state and local public health officials continue to conduct voluntary testing of people who had
contact with the two MERS patients who had traveled from Saudi Arabia to the United States - one person
in Indiana, the other in Florida.
o To date, public health and hospital officials have monitored the health of the family members and
healthcare staff that had close contact with the two U.S. patients with MERS, and collected and
tested specimens from them.
o CDC has also contacted almost all of the people who were on the flights with the two travelers and
on the bus with the first traveler. CDC continues to do follow-up interviews and voluntary testing
with them.
As part of these ongoing investigations, State and CDC labs are conducting two kinds of laboratory tests to
identify MERS-CoV infection.
o One type of tests conducted by state and CDC labs, are called PCR, or polymerase chain reaction,
assays.
PCR tests are done with respiratory samples and can quickly indicate if a person has active
infection with the MERS virus
o A second type of testing used by CDC?s labs is called serology testing.
Serology testing uses blood samples and is designed to look for antibodies to MERS-CoV
that would indicate if a person had been previously infected with the virus and developed
an immune response.
Serology for MERS-CoV includes three separate tests ? (1) ELISA or enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay, (2) IFA or Immunofluorescent assay, and a third more definitive test
called the neutralizing antibody assay. The neutralizing antibody test takes longer than the
other two tests.
On April 25, 2014, an Illinois resident had extended face-to-face contact during a business meeting with the
first case of confirmed MERS in the U.S., shortly before the case was hospitalized in Indiana.
o Health officials identified this person as part of the contact investigation and had been monitoring
his health daily since May 3.
o He initially tested negative for active MERS-CoV infection by PCR in the days after his interaction
with the confirmed MERS patient.
Given the Illinois resident?s contact with the MERS patient, CDC chose to conduct serology testing to see if
the Illinois resident had antibodies to MERS-CoV.
o The initial, preliminary ELISA and IFA results indicated the possibility that the Illinois resident had
been previously infected with MERS-CoV.
Based on these results, CDC notified and tested the people with whom the Illinois resident had close
contact in the days following his interaction with the Indiana MERS patient to be sure that no one else had
become ill and to prevent any possible further spread of the virus.
After completing an additional slower, but more definitive laboratory test ? the neutralizing antibody test ?
CDC has concluded that the Illinois resident was not previously infected with MERS-CoV.
Public health officials have informed the Illinois resident of the additional serology test results and the final
conclusions.
To date, active MERS-CoV infection has not been found in any of the contacts of the two people in the
United States confirmed to have the disease. However, investigations, including voluntary serology testing
of contacts, are ongoing and the situation could change.