UK-New SARS-like virus starting to spread

[One-23 Profile]

Maybe nothing, but definitely one to keep an eye on.

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New SARS-like virus starting to spread

By Kate Kelland

Reuters Thursday February 14, 2013 6:06 AM

LONDON — A third patient in Britain has contracted a new SARS-like virus, becoming the second confirmed British case in a week and showing that the deadly infection is being spread from person to person, health officials said yesterday.

The latest case, in a man from the same family as another patient, brings the worldwide number of confirmed infections with the new virus — known as novel coronavirus, or NCoV — to 11.

Of those, five have died. Most of the infected lived or had recently been in the Middle East. Three diagnoses have been made in Britain.

NCoV was identified when the World Health Organization issued an international alert in September 2012 saying that a virus previously unknown in humans had infected a Qatari man who recently had been in Saudi Arabia.



The virus belongs to the same family as SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome — a that emerged in China in 2002 and killed about a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. Symptoms common to both viruses include severe respiratory illness, fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Britain’s Health Protection Agency said the latest patient, who is a UK resident and does not have any recent travel history, is in intensive care at a hospital in central England.

Coronaviruses typically are spread like other respiratory infections such as flu, traveling in airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Among the 11 laboratory-confirmed cases to date, five are in Saudi Arabia, with three deaths; two are in Jordan, where both patients died; three are in Britain, where all three are receiving treatment; and one was in Germany in a patient from Qatar who has been discharged from medical care.

Source http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories ... pread.html

[One-23 Profile]

Third family member has 'Sars-like virus'

A third member of a family in the UK has been infected with a new respiratory illness similar to the deadly Sars virus, officials say.

It strengthens evidence that the virus can spread between people, however experts say the risk to the general population remains small.

Of the 12 people confirmed to have the virus, five have died.

This case appears to be a milder form of the infection and the patient is not being treated in hospital.

The infection is thought to come from contact with animals. However, if the virus can spread between people it poses a much more serious threat.

This is the fourth case identified in the UK. The first was a patient flown in from Qatar for treatment. The second was linked to travel to the Middle East and Pakistan.

The virus is then thought to have spread from the second patient to his son and another member of the family.

Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21478320

[One-23 Profile]

Third UK Novel Coronavirus Death Reported

The third patient suffering from the novel coronavirus in the UK has died.

The man, being cared for at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham died on Sunday morning but news of his death has only recently been released.

Six of the dozen patients known to have been infected with the virus have now died.

Although the possibility of the virus spreading to the wider community is being played down this cases is the first where person to person spread has been confirmed.

The hospital said in a statement it is working closely with the HPA (Health protection Agency) to test all known contacts of the man and to ensure the well being of the greater population.

The infection causes pneumonia and kidney failure but its source and how it spreads is still being investigated.

Source http://theintelhub.com/2013/02/19/third ... -reported/

[Tuor10 Profile]

The virus doesn't seem to be very infectious. If it were, there would be far more cases of it by now, IMHO. It is something to keep tabs on though.