Health officials said Tuesday roughly 500 people may have been exposed to the MERS virus by flying on planes within the United States with the sick patient.
One of those travelers learned Tuesday morning she had been exposed and was sent a health checklist.
“They informed me that there was a confirmed case of the MERS virus from my flight from Atlanta to Orlando. I was really scared,” said the woman who does not want to be identified, but lives in Virginia and flew with her husband on May 1 aboard the same Delta flight with the MERS-infected patient.
Twelve days after her flight, her State Health Department called and sent her a letter that reads:
“You were exposed to a person with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) on your flight” and asks if she has symptoms like fever (100.4 f degrees), cough, difficulty breathing, wheezing, or pain when coughing or breathing deeply. She and others who flew with the MERS patient must record their temperature for 14 days after their exposure.”
About 15 other workers, including two physicians at Dr. Phillips Hospital, as well as five workers at Orlando Regional Medical Center where the Saudi resident also visited, have been asked to stay home from work for two weeks until they are cleared of having the virus.
For more on this story visit: Shaun Chaiyabhat, Local 6 Orlando