A Deadly Virus Is Arrested in the Middle East

Next month, during the Islamic pilgrimage known as the Hajj, 3 million people will pour into the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. They will worship, pray, and be within 50 miles of the first identified case of the fatal infectious disease, Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS). Discovered in 2012 at a hospital in Jeddah, a port city and entry point to Mecca, MERS has infected 840 people worldwide. Nearly 30 percent of them have died, most suffering fevers, cough, and a terrifying shortness of breath.

It’s a frightening scenario: one of the world’s largest human migrations is about to settle in an area that’s home to a deadly virus without a cure or vaccine. As recent studies have shown, modern transportation, notably international ports and travel hubs, can be a viral expressway to pandemics. MERS has already traveled by foot, car, and plane to more than a dozen countries on four continents, including the United States, where two healthcare providers, hospitalized, have recovered.

But a curious