France confirms first case of deadly new Sars-related virus
Last night French health authorities said they are trying to find anyone who might have been in contact with him to prevent it from spreading.
It’s unclear how or where the man was infected with the novel coronavirus, which has killed 18 people in four countries and raised new public health concerns since being identified last year in the Middle East. It can cause acute pneumonia and kidney failure.
The Frenchman fell ill after returning from a trip to the United Arab Emirates, the Health Ministry said. He has been under isolation and medical surveillance at a hospital in Douai in northern France since Apr 23, and is receiving respiratory assistance and blood transfusions, said Jean-Yves Grall, the government health director. Paris’ Pasteur Institute analysed the man’s virus and confirmed that it is a novel coronavirus.
Since Sept 2012, the World Health Organisation has been informed of 30 confirmed cases of the virus, and 18 of the patients have died.
Cases have emerged in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Britain and Germany, and health officials have said the virus has likely already spread between people in some circumstances.
France’s health minister, Marisol Touraine, said authorities are “fully mobilised” to prevent it from spreading.
Authorities are trying to reach anyone who was in contact with the patient before he was hospitalised, and a national hotline was established for the public to call about the virus.
WHO has advised countries to test any people with unexplained pneumonia.
“Any virus that has the potential to develop into something that is highly transmissible between people, including the coronavirus, is a major concern,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
The new coronavirus is most closely related to a bat virus and scientists are considering whether bats or other animals like goats or camels are a possible source of infection.
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