7:30AM GMT 19 Feb 2013
The deadly new coronavirus replicates faster than SARS and the four British cases so far may be the tip of the iceberg, scientists have warned.
Research on the new strain of coronavirus, which has killed almost half of those who have caught it, has found that it breeds in the human body faster than SARS and can evade the immune system as easily as the common cold.
There have been 12 cases reported worldwide and five have died.
The new findings published in the journal mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology found similarities between the new coronavirus and the common cold.
Co-author Volker Thiel of The Institute of Immunobiology at Kantonal Hospital in St. Gallen, Switzerland, said: "We don't know whether the cases we observe are the tip of the iceberg.
"Or whether many more people are infected without showing severe symptoms.".. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9877604/Coronavirus-cases-may-be-tip-of-the-iceberg.html
