Six NHS staff were today being closely monitored for signs of symptoms after they had “close” contact with one of the patients
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Doctors are scrambling to trace dozens of friends and relatives of two Brits hit by a deadly Sars-like virus to stop it spreading across the UK .
They want to test them urgently to see if they have caught the new coronavirus – and prevent them passing it on to yet more people.
Six NHS staff were today being closely monitored for signs of symptoms after they had “close” contact with one of the patients.
The Health Protection Agency today revealed a Birmingham patient being treated for the strain is related to a Brit fighting for life in Manchester.
The Birmingham patient is the world’s 11th person to be diagnosed with the new strain, which has killed five people.
It is the third UK case but the first time it has passed between humans.
The first here was a 49-year-old man not from the UK.
He was flown by air ambulance from Qatar to St Thomas’ Hospital, London, in September and is still seriously ill.
The second, a middle-aged man who recently visited the Middle East and Pakistan, is isolated in intensive care at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester.
He is thought to have passed the bug to a relative, who has not been abroad recently.
That relative, who has an existing medical condition which makes sufferers more susceptible to respiratory infections, arrived at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, on Saturday night. Nurses caring for all three are wearing protective masks, goggles, aprons and gloves.
Prof John Watson, HPA head of respiratory diseases, said: “This infection of someone with no Middle East travel history suggests UK person-to-person transmission.”
The NHS Trust that runs Queen Elizabeth Hospital said: “Our patient had no direct contact with any other patient.
"The person is stable and the isolation room is cleaned daily with detergent.”
The coronavirus family ranges from colds to Sars – severe acute respiratory syndrome.
They are spread by coughs and sneezes but this strain differs from previous ones identified in humans.
Sars symptoms include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing.
A 2002 global outbreak killed about 800 victims before it was halted.
The World Health Organisation is trying to find the new strain’s source, with bats the leading theory.
Virus has no vaccine
THE new Sars-like virus has sparked pneumonia in some patients and can also cause kidney failure, the World Health Organisation has said.
Coronaviruses are usually caught from people coughing, sneezing or just talking but it is not known exactly how the latest bug is transmitted.
There is no available vaccine or specific treatment for sufferers. Coronaviruses are fragile and can survive outside the body for only 24 hours. They can be killed using detergents and cleaning agents.
Of the five people diagnosed in Saudi Arabia since the new strain emerged there last year, three have died. Two patients in Jordan have both died.
One patient has been diagnosed in Germany plus the two in the UK. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sars-hunt-family-friends-two-1708617
