SARS-like virus kills claims one more life in Saudi Arabia
Iran Press TV
Thu Jun 6, 2013 2:17PM GMT
Saudi health authorities say one more person has died from a deadly new respiratory virus related to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the country's eastern region of al-Ahsaa.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that the latest victim died from the infection on Wednesday.
Since September 2012, twenty-five people have died from nCoV-EMC novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia. Forty people are suffering from the disease in the kingdom.
The Italian Ministry of Health said on Sunday that a 45-year-old man, who had recently returned from a 40-day visit to Jordan, was hospitalized in Italy's central region of Tuscany with a high fever, cough and respiratory problems.
Tuscan medical officials said that a young relative of the man and a work colleague have also contracted the virus.
The nCoV-EMC novel coronavirus is a cousin of SARS. The virus first emerged in the Middle East, and was discovered in September 2012 in a Qatari man who had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia.
Cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, France, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. Health officials say 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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