Coronavirus spreads to third family member

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/15/coronavirus-spreads-third-family-member


Coronavirus, shown under an electron microscope. It is part of a family of viruses that cause ailments including the common cold and Sars. Photograph: HPA/AP

A third member of one UK family has been infected by the new Sars-like virus that appears to have originated in the Middle East, according to the Health Protection Agency.

The first member of the family to fall ill had travelled to the Middle East and Pakistan. That person and a relative who had a pre-existing medical condition, which might have made them more susceptible to infection, were admitted to a Manchester hospital.

But the third family member to have contracted the novel coronavirus is said by the HPA to be recovering from a mild respiratory illness and is well. He or she has been advised not to meet with other people who are not part of the family, but only as a precaution. Other relatives and contacts of the latest person to be diagnosed are still being tracked down and tested.

There have been 12 confirmed cases worldwide, of which four were found in Britain. Three in Saudi Arabia and two in Jordan have died. But the HPA made it clear it did not consider the latest case to be an escalation of the problem.