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(Image source: The Atlantic Wire)
BY BRIANA ALTERGOTT
A deadly SARS-like virus responsible for the deaths of 18 people worldwide has made its
way to France.
A 65-year-old Frenchman, whose name has not been released, was diagnosed with the new
virus after returning home from a trip to Dubai.
(Via Euronews)
The CDC labeled this infection as a novel, or new, coronavirus, meaning it is a cause
of the common cold. The actual SARS virus was identified back in 2003.
This new virus was first identified in September 2012 after the infections of a Qatari man
in a British hospital and a woman who died in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention report the majority of the cases have clustered in the Arabian
Peninsula.
This is the second case linked to the United Arab Emirates, and it brings the grand total
of people infected to 31 since 2012. But doctors say they have the situation under control.
(Via France 24)
According to The National, the head of infectious disease at an Abu Dhabi hospital said, "We
met and developed... guidelines and protocols that were put in place in preparation and
anticipation of suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus."
According to ABC, the virus can cause pneumonia and kidney failure, but explains, unlike the
actual SARS virus, it doesn't seem to spread easily from person to person.
But The Atlantic Wire reports otherwise. Two people who came into contact with 65-year-old
man infected at the hospital where he is being treated might have contracted the virus from
him but further examinations are necessary to confirm it. The man has since been placed
in an isolated intensive care unit.