She was 54.
The Manhattan native, who covered breaking news for CBS since joining the network in 1987, had been on medical leave for an unrelated matter when she was infected, the network said while confirming her death Sunday.
Dan
Fake but AccurateRather
...the man who put the BS in CBS News. In 2004 he put on a news story that highlighted dissatisfaction with Lt. George W. Bush in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam war. This was almost casually--but gleefully--debunked by the Blogosphere at large. Rather's face was rubbed in journalistic mud, four of his staff were fired, and within a short time his 43-year (about the same length as Muammar Qadaffi's) career had settled to the bottom, from whence he periodically emits a bubble, which proves he's not dead yet...called the loss a "hard hit to the heart."
"A paragon of grit and grace, she embodied the best of the @CBSNews mission. Millions of Americans learned of the world through her efforts. Now our world is less with her loss," he tweeted.
CBS News president Susan Zirinsky called Mercader ‐ who had battled cancer for more than 20 years ‐ a "warrior" and a "gift we cherished."