As of May 30th, this SARS-like virus has caused the deaths of 49 people. It first started in Saudi Arabia, but now has been spotted in other areas as well. It spread when individuals started visiting affected areas and later flying back to their native place, unaware that they were infected. It is related to SARS because it acts like a cold virus and attacks the respiratory system, but scientists have decided to name it Middle East Respiratory Symptom Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV. Symptoms include things such as a fever and a cough, but can take up to 9 to 12 days to show. This disease is more serious than the bird flu, and is spreading rapidly. The number of deaths has almost doubled in only one day.
Although this disease might never reach the U.S., it is still very alarming to me. It is killing people rapidly, and only taking less than 24 hours to kill them. I believe people should have stricter rules when allowing possible infected travellers to travel. They can’t take any chances when other countries might get infected as well. I think that this new disease is horrible, and that scientists should start finding a cure right away. At this rate, how many people do you think will be gone in a month? Too many, that’s for sure.
-Catie Schaffer