Two more people die of SARS-like virus in Saudi Arabia
Sapa-dpa | 12 May, 2013 20:32
The coronavirus is from the family as that which causes SARS and the common cold. Photo: ALAMY
Two more people have died of the deadly SARS-like coronavirus respiratory infection in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Health Ministry reported on Sunday.
The deaths brought the toll in the kingdom to nine, of 15 cases confirmed in total, Deputy Health Minister Ziyad Memish said.
The two people died in the eastern al-Ahsa region.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health invited the World Health Organization to help assess the situation and to provide guidance and recommendations.
One of the reasons why more cases have been identified in Saudi Arabia may be because authorities there have strengthened their surveillance system, lab capacities and network, the World Health Organization said in a statement.
France on Sunday confirmed its second case of a deadly SARS-like coronavirus respiratory infection.
The new case was a man who had shared a hospital room with the first confirmed case, a 65-year-old man, who was hospitalized in April after a visit to Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Saturday that three other people suspected of contracting the virus had tested negative.
All three cases in northern France were believed to be linked to the 65-year-old man. The Health Ministry had also said that two other cases were still being investigated.
Human coronavirus, or hCoV, was first discovered in 2012 in a man in Saudi Arabia.
Almost all of the cases reported to the World Health Organization originated in the Arabian Peninsula.
Coronavirus belongs to the same group as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which 10 years ago killed about 800 people.
