Florida MERS patient released from hospital

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A man from Saudi Arabia who is one of three patients diagnosed with an infection from a Middle East respiratory virus in the United States has been released from an Orlando, Florida, hospital.

Officials from the state health department and Dr. P. Phillips Hospital said in a news release Monday that the 44-year-old unidentified man has been discharged.

They say the man has recovered from the virus and is now testing negative for Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS.

Officials say at least 20 health care workers at two Orlando hospitals came into contact with the man, and they all have tested negative, too.

A man in Indiana was the first U.S. case of the MERS virus, and an Illinois man picked up a MERS-related infection from that man.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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