For the first time ever, an incidence of MERS has been confirmed in the US. MERS has killed more than 100 people in the Middle East and has been tracked in an Indiana health care worker who recently returned to the US from Saudi Arabia, said federal health officials on Friday.

The condition of the man is in stable and doctors are looking after him in an Indiana hospital. As of now, the name, age and exact occupation of the man have not been disclosed by the authorities. All that has been revealed by Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of respiratory diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is that the man is currently in isolation and receiving oxygen.

Dr. Schuchat said that a single case American of the virus does not increase the severe risk of spread to others and people can go ahead with their travel plans to the Middle East.

The full name of MERS is Middle East respiratory syndrome. A team from the agency will soon travel to Indiana to provide assistance in treatment of the man and to figure out from where the man got this infection. The man reportedly flew to Chicago from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, via London on April 24. He then took a bus to Indiana and fell ill on April 27. He was taken to the hospital the next day.

Health authorities have advised any hospital dealing with MERS patients to wear masks, gowns and face shields. "We believe that if good infection control precautions are used during healthcare the risk to healthcare workers is also exceedingly low", says Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, an infectious diseases expert.

The World Health Organization is also endeavoring to figure out how long a virus can live on surfaces like bedsheets and hospital equipment.