Doctor exposed to MERS in Florida leaves Canada

A physician who came to Canada after being exposed to MERS has returned to the U.S., a Canadian health official  says.

A spokeswoman for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) provided an update on Tuesday.

"The doctor returned to the U.S.," Sylwia Krzyszton, senior advisor for media relations at the agency, said in an email.

The return happened with the consent of both PHAC and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The doctor remained well with no symptoms throughout the stay in Canada. Negative test results for MERS coronavirus were confirmed before departure, Krzyszton added.

Last week, health officials in both countries said the physician learned of the risk of exposure from the second case of MERS in the U.S., a patient in Orlando.

Dr. Gregory Taylor, the country's deputy chief public health officer, had said the physician was advised to wear a mask as a precaution if flying. 

The doctor came to Canada on vacation and was in self-isolation while tests were done.

Also on Tuesday, Orlando Health said follow-up tests on seven health care workers, including one physician, from Orlando Regional Medical Center who were exposed to the MERS coronavirus came back negative and they've been cleared to return to work.

Preliminary tests on 16 health care workers, including two physicians, from Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, have also come back negative.

The health-care workers in Florida were being monitored after they were exposed to a patient with MERS on May 8.

The patient, who is also a doctor, lives and works in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The hospital where he works has treated patients with MERS.

Since April 2012, about 650 infections with the MERS virus have been reported by 19 different countries, mainly by Saudi Arabia.