Posted on 10/10/2013 12:12:57 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Southern California doctors and health officials will be on the lookout for Muslim pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia with flu-like symptoms in the wake of a reported outbreak of a SARS-like virus in the Middle East, according to a report.
L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Jonathan Fielding told the Los Angeles Times severe coughs or other similar symptoms could signal the arrival of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV, to the Southland.
While MERS-CoV has so far only been reported in the Mideast and Europe, doctors and emergency departments will be on the lookout for suspicious coughs and fevers, Fielding told the Times.
“We have procedures in place to get to the state lab any specimens that we think might be a problem,” Fielding said. “We don’t have any specific treatment, so it’s really important that we remain vigilant.”
Fielding first alerted Angelenos to the virus back in May (PDF), at which time no cases were reported in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, as of Sept. 30, there were no reported cases of MERS in the United States. However, a note on the CDC website warns the agency’s information may be outdated due to the partial government shutdown.
At least 136 people have been infected by the MERS virus worldwide, with at least 58 of those victims killed from respiratory distress and organ failure since the virus was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.
Out of the total number of people infected with the virus, which health officials warned is predominantly spread by close contact, Saudi Arabia was listed as the place of origin in 108 infected cases and 47 of all MERS-related deaths, according to WHO.
Providing the type of environment in which a virus can spread efficiently, the pilgrimage known as the hajj — which Muslim men are required to make at least once in their lifetime — typically draws more than 10,000 American Muslims in hot and crowded conditions. .
Just don’t let them back into the country..simple
All from Los Angeles? How strange!
Wouldn’t it be just awful-considering that Hussein likes to hang out with Muslim types-if one of his fellow cultists came into contact with the disease, and then with Hussein?
I hope it is a swine flu sweeping through the Muslim world.
He’s more likely to catch AIDS — if he doesn’t already have it.
While I agree with the sentiment, I don’t think you entirely understand the consequences of allowing our government to do it.
Why do we allow people to travel to pest-ridden places and then return to infect the rest of us? Of course, we would all die in an epidemic because THE ALMIGHTY GOVERNMENT in whom we trust is shut down!
I wouldn’t be surprised if he was HIV positive.
He’s gross.
Actually I do...I just despise mooslimbs and would take the opportunity to rid our country of a few. Never met one I liked..
Well, then . . . when the time comes for you to be singled-out for your political beliefs with public health as an excuse, you won’t mind.
It’s Whooping Cough... just sayin’
Apparently this one would-ahem-take care of the problem a bit quicker. Plus Biden would probably be there saying rosaries over him, or chanting voodoo or something, so we wouldn’t have to put up with him for long either. Boehner being a weak sister, wouldn’t last long after a more ambitious and rutthless type on our side (if such a creature exists) ousted him.
People got sick, ended up in quarantine, some even died, because letting invaders from Mexico into the US is more important than the lives of US citizens. Maybe we can call that Obama's first shameful decision.
Well....isn’t *that* special?
ping
“He’s more likely to catch AIDS — if he doesn’t already have it.”
Don’t know why but Charlie Rangle came to mind when I read your comment.
Health Officials To Watch For Muslim Pilgrims With SARS-Like Symptoms
My original comment was self-deleted. It was pretty funny, and un-PC.
Thanks, Velveeta.
So PM us your witty comment?
thnx for the ping.
Rather difficult to be PC about these things.
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