Three more people die of novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia
Iran Press TV
Thu May 30, 2013 3:1PM GMT
Saudi health authorizes say three more people have died from a deadly new respiratory virus related to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the country.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that the three victims, aged between 24 and 60, were suffering from chronic diseases, including kidney failure. They had been hospitalized a month ago.
Thirty people have died globally from the novel coronavirus.
The novel coronavirus, also known as nCoV-EMC, is a cousin of SARS. The virus first emerged in the Middle East, and was discovered on September 2012 in a Qatari man who had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia.
Cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Britain and Germany, and health officials have said the virus is likely to have already spread between people in some circumstances.
Health authorities are trying to find out how humans are contracting the virus in a bid to find the best remedy to it.
It does not appear to be as contagious as SARS, which killed some 800 people in a 2003 epidemic.
The novel coronavirus is most closely related to a bat virus. Scientists are considering whether bats or other animals like goats or camels are a possible source of infection.
The World Health Organization has advised countries to test any people with unexplained pneumonia.
MP/KA
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