The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the first case of a deadly virus from the Middle East has been found in the United States.

A healthcare worker returning to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia fell sick last week and had to be hospitalized in northern Indiana. Indiana officials confirmed that the man had contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, but is now in stable condition and recovering.

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The American man traveled from Saudi Arabia to London, then onwards to Chicago where he boarded a bus to to an undisclosed town in Indiana. When he began to feel symptoms of cough and fever, he went to a local hospital in Munster, Indiana and informed the staff of his travel history. 

Although the virus is not considered highly contagious, officials are still planning to track down people who came in close contact with the man on his flight back to the US in order to attempt to contain further spread of the virus.

MERS was first reported two years ago in Saudi Arabia but has since affected over 400 people, all of whom had ties to the Middle East or had traveled there at some point. Out of the 400 people affected, nearly a third passed away after contracting the virus.

Experts say it was only a matter of time before MERS made its way to the U.S. and Europe.

The Centers for Disease Control had anticipated the arrival of MERS and plan to react swiftly to stifle any outbreak. The CDC also encourages people to take normal precautions to prevent a MERS infection by washing hands often with soap and water or using an alcohol-based sanitizer.

As of yet, the CDC hasn't issued any warnings regarding travel to countries involved in the MERS outbreak and, although the current CDC travel notice is an Alert Level 2, the CDC web advisory says there is no need for people to suspend travel plans to the Middle East.

However, people who experience symptoms one to two weeks after traveling in or near the Arabian Peninsula are encouraged to present their travel history to a doctor and seek out medical help.