The World Health Organization says it appears
likely that the novel coronavirus (NCoV) can be
passed between people in close contact. This comes after the French health ministry
confirmed a second man had contracted the virus
in a possible case of human-to-human
transmission. Two more people in Saudi Arabia are also
reported to have died from the virus, according
to health officials. NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and
sometimes kidney failure. World Health Organization (WHO) officials have
expressed concern over the clusters of cases of the
new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to
spread. Since 2012, there have been 33 confirmed cases
across Europe and the Middle East, with 18
deaths, according to a recent WHO update. Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia and
Jordan and have spread to Germany, the UK and
France. "Of most concern... is the fact that the different
clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly
support the hypothesis that when there is close
contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from
person to person," the World Health Organization said on Sunday. "This pattern of person-to-person transmission
has remained limited to some small clusters and so
far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has
the capacity to sustain generalised transmission in
communities," the statement adds. France's second confirmed case was a 50-year-old
man who had shared a hospital room in
Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old
who fell ill with the virus after returning from
Dubai. "Positive results [for the virus] have been
confirmed for both patients," the French health
ministry said, adding that both men were being
treated in isolation wards. Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy minister of health
said on Sunday that two more people had died
from the coronavirus, bringing the number of
fatalities to nine in the most recent outbreak in al-
Ahsa governorate in the east of Saudi Arabia,
Reuters news agency reports. The Saudi health ministry said that 15 people had
died out of the 24 cases diagnosed since last
summer. WHO officials have not yet confirmed the latest
deaths.
It is thought a family member had picked up the
virus while travelling to the Middle East and
Pakistan. Novel coronavirus is from the same family of
viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that
emerged in Asia in 2003. However, NCoV and Sars are distinct from each
other, the WHO said in its statement on Sunday. Coronavirus is known to cause respiratory
infections in both humans and animals. But it is not yet clear whether it is a mutation of
an existing virus or an infection in animals that
has made the jump to humans.
Source: m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22502143?SThisFB&fb_source=timeline&ref=profile&refid=17#_=_