Fourth Patient Now Infected In The UK With New Mystery Virus
As we have reported earlier this week (here and here), two patients were found to be infected with a new novel coronavirus, similar to the one that sparked the SARS outbreak in 2002.
First, one patient died in July under mysterious circumstances and when the virus' DNA was sequenced in September, researchers found the culprit -- a new virus that had not been seen before.
Just this week, after a total of niine infected people in Saudi Arabia and Jordan had contracted the disease, five of which died, a new patient showed up ill in the UK.
Patient No. 10 had traveled outside the UK to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and most likely contracted the illness while in the Middle East. Researchers believe that the virus may be transmitted by bats, camels or goats to people.
Patient No. 11, who is a family member of patient No. 10 entered the hospital days later with similar symptoms. Yet this patient had not traveled outside the country which changed doctors ideas about this virus. Because this person had no travel, they must have contacted it from patient No. 10 and the virus must now have gained the ability to jump from person to person.
Patient No. 12, the newly infected, and a family member of the two recent UK residents made ill by the virus has been confirmed as having been infected. Interestingly, the two family members had to be admitted to the hospital, the person in this recent case only showed mild signs of respiratory illness.
Researchers stress that there is no cause for alarm, as historically the SARS virus extinguished itself as fast as it came to prominence and never became an epidemic in 2002.
Updates in the virus can be found at the UK Health Protection Agency site here.