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Date: 8 May 2013
Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/05/08/us-coronavirus-france-idINBRE94709Q20130508 [Edited]
France reports first case of new SARS-like virus
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France has identified its 1st case of a new strain of coronavirus emerging from the Middle East in a person recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, the health ministry said on Wednesday [8 May 2013].
The ministry said it had opened an investigation into what it said was the 1st and only confirmed case of the virus in France and would hold a news conference later in the day.
"The person has been placed in isolation in an intensive care ward," the ministry said in a statement.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been informed of the French case but had no further details.
Worldwide, there have been 30 laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, including 18 deaths, since it came to scientists' attention in September [2012], according to WHO data.
The coronavirus is from the same viral family as the common cold and triggered the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that swept the world from Asia in late 2003, killing 775 people.
There is no evidence yet of sustained human-to-human spread of the new virus, but there are concerns about clusters of cases reported by the WHO in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Britain.
[Reporting by Catherine Bremer; editing by Louise Ireland]
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ProMED-mail
[This is the 1st reported case of illness attributable to infection with the nCoV in France, and the 4th reported case in Europe with history of contact in the UAE prior to arriving in Europe; 2 cases were transferred from Qatar to Europe -- one to the UK and one to Germany- - and another was transferred from Abu Dhabi to Germany.
More information on this current case would be greatly appreciated -- age, sex, location of presumed transmission, animal exposures, possible contacts. - Mod.MPP
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1HAK.]
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