11th Fatality From Novel Coronovirus Of 17 Cases On Record; Pathogen Identified Only 6 Months Ago

[hatrack]

(Reuters) - A 73-year-old man from the United Arab Emirates has become the eleventh person to die from a virus that attacks the respiratory system and was only identified six months ago, the World Health Organization said.

The latest casualty of the so-called "novel Coronavirus" (nCoV) was flown to hospital in Munich last week and died on Tuesday, the United Nations' agency said.

Seventeen cases have been announced since the WHO issued an alert in September last year, most of them with links to the Middle East. Another man who had a history of travel to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had also died in a British hospital, it added.

Scientists say the new virus is from the same viral family that causes the common cold and also triggered the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that swept the world from Asia in late 2003, leaving 775 dead.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/27/us-coronavirus-idUSBRE92Q0UG20130327

[GliderGuider]

1. Wonderful. A 65% fatality rate and it spreads through the air...

Does anyone else hear hoofbeats?

[Archaic]

2. According to the WHO, it seems to be hard to transmit so far.

www.who.int/csr/disease/coronavirus_infections/update_20130314/en/index.html

We'll see how the next 90 days go.