Man tests positive for MERS virus

An Illinois man tested positive for the potentially lethal coronavirus MERS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Saturday.

The man had close contact with an Indiana patient who had contracted MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, but he didn't require medical care and is reported to be feeling well, the CDC said in a statement.

The man's health has been monitored daily by local health officials since May 3, a day after MERS was confirmed in the Indiana patient. Test results showed late Friday night that the man had an apparent past infection of MERS.

The test results are preliminary. The CDC said they suggest that the man's body may have developed antibodies to fight the virus after getting it from the Indiana patient, who has been released from the hospital.

"It has a very high mortality rate," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt Medical Center, told "CBS This Morning" Wednesday. "About a third of the people who have acquired this infection have died of it."