Health

xchrom

(108,903 posts) Wed May 8, 2013, 08:09 AM May 2013

france confirms 1st case of new SARS related virus

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_VIRUS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-08-06-17-28

PARIS (AP) -- France on Wednesday reported its first case of a new respiratory virus related to SARS, in a traveler returning from the United Arab Emirates.

The French Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the person is hospitalized in isolation and is under medical surveillance in an undisclosed location. It says Paris' Pasteur Institute analyzed the virus and confirmed that it is a novel coronavirus, the first such case in France.

The ministry said the patient is a French citizen, but would not immediately divulge the patient's gender or age or any details. Health Minister Marisol Touraine plans a news conference later Wednesday to elaborate.

The new coronavirus, first identified last year in the Middle East, can cause acute pneumonia and kidney failure. Since September 2012, the World Health Organization has been informed of 24 confirmed cases, and 16 of the patients died.

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france confirms 1st case of new SARS related virus (Original Post) xchrom May 2013 OP

France... hlthe2b May 2013 #1

This is far scarier than H7N9 given the higher death rate LonePirate May 2013 #2

Transmission capabilities was my Ilsa May 2013 #3

Right, if it's person to person with at least a 3 day prodromal stage Warpy May 2013 #5

Saudi Arabia has 13 cases of SARS-like coronavirus - WHO xchrom May 2013 #4

Worrisome. nt bemildred May 2013 #6

hlthe2b

(102,379 posts)

1. France...

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Wed May 8, 2013, 08:11 AM

May 2013

Inevitable... I hope this one can be contained quickly

LonePirate

(13,431 posts)

2. This is far scarier than H7N9 given the higher death rate

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Wed May 8, 2013, 08:22 AM

May 2013

I hope the cause can be pinpointed and I hope human to human transmission is non-existent.

Ilsa

(61,698 posts)

3. Transmission capabilities was my

Reply to LonePirate (Reply #2)

Wed May 8, 2013, 08:42 AM

May 2013

concern as well. This is scary stuff.

Warpy

(111,358 posts)

5. Right, if it's person to person with at least a 3 day prodromal stage

Reply to Ilsa (Reply #3)

Wed May 8, 2013, 09:25 AM

May 2013

it could be the next big pandemic.

Usually these things have been limited by the mechanism they use to kill, consolidation in the lower respiratory tract so that they don't spread by droplets. Only confinement in a small space with an infected person would result in human to human transmission, even then very inefficiently.

If it is upper respiratory and spreads by droplet, killing by cytokine storm, then France is a good place to have the first case outside the Middle East. Their virus isolation and vaccine development rivals ours.

We know too little right now to bend over and kiss our butts goodbye. This one does bear watching, though.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)

4. Saudi Arabia has 13 cases of SARS-like coronavirus - WHO

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Wed May 8, 2013, 09:18 AM

May 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/08/uk-saudi-coronavirus-idUKBRE9470E920130508

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has had 13 cases in a recent outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus that has emerged from the Gulf and spread as far as Britain and France, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, and seven of those have died.

Saudi Arabia has reported 23 confirmed cases in total, Qatar two, Jordan two, Britain two and the United Arab Emirates one, the WHO said. Although there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human spread, there are concerns about clusters of cases.

France reported its first case on Wednesday.

The latest Saudi outbreak was restricted to al-Ahsa governorate in Eastern Province and all those infected had pre-existing health conditions, Arab News newspaper quoted Doctor Jafar al-Tawfiq, an infections specialist in Eastern Province, as saying.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)

6. Worrisome. nt

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Wed May 8, 2013, 09:41 AM

May 2013

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