--- description: An Illinois business associate of the first laboratory-confirmed MERS case in the United States has tested positive for the virus title: MERS: Third Person Tests Positive in the United States image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5eaaecbe9741ef/69868ffd1eebf7718b370f53/ap60124602414-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Infectious Disease](/tag/infectious-disease/) ## Infectious Disease Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Deadly Middle East Virus Hits 3rd U.S. Patient by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 17, 2014 8:35 PM CUT  This file photo provided by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a colorized transmission of the MERS coronavirus that emerged in 2012. This file photo provided by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a colorized transmission of the MERS coronavirus that emerged in 2012.National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases/AP by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 17, 2014 8:35 PM CUT An Illinois man has become the third person in the United States to [test positive for the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome](http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0517-mers.html "undefined"), but he hasn’t showed signs of illness, federal health officials said Saturday. The man met with the health care worker who was hospitalized in Indiana after traveling from Saudi Arabia and was diagnosed May 2 with the MERS virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The Illinois man had not traveled outside of the U.S. and had met twice with the health care worker who brought the first case stateside, before that case was diagnosed. He continues to feel healthy despite testing positive for the disease on Friday. He’s the first person to contract the infection in the U.S., as opposed to getting it overseas and bringing it back, NPR reports. “This latest development does not change CDC’s current recommendations to prevent the spread of MERS,” said Dr. David Swerdlow, who is leading the CDC’s response to MERS. “It’s possible that as the investigation continues others may also test positive for MERS-CoV infection but not get sick. Along with state and local health experts, CDC will investigate those initial cases and if new information is learned that requires us to change our prevention recommendations, we can do so.” There have been 572 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS in 15 countries, according to the CDC, and 173 people have died. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/103866/mers-us-infections/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/103866/mers-us-infections/"},"headline":"Deadly Middle East Virus Hits 3rd U.S. Patient","datePublished":"2014-05-17T20:35:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:54:21.839Z","description":"An Illinois business associate of the first laboratory-confirmed MERS patient in the United States has tested positive for the virus","url":"https://time.com/103866/mers-us-infections/","keywords":["Infectious Disease"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5eaaecbe9741ef/69868ffd1eebf7718b370f53/ap60124602414-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5eaaecbe9741ef/69868ffd1eebf7718b370f53/ap60124602414-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MERS","caption":"MERS","creditText":"National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/103866/mers-us-infections/","name":"Deadly Middle East Virus Hits 3rd U.S. Patient"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"MERS: What You Need to Know","description":"MERS is a respiratory virus that is in the same family as the common cold and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). 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