Posted inGCCHealthcareHealthcareIndustriesMiddle East

UK patient dies after SARS-like virus

Twelve cases of coronavirus have so far been reported, including five in MidEast

A patient being treated for a SARS-like coronavirus in the UK has died, taking the death toll to six worldwide.

The man, who is one of three people in the same family with the virus, is believed to have contracted the illness from a relative who is being treated for the same condition. It is the first case of human-to-human transition of the virus in the UK.

One of the family members appeared to have contracted the virus from one of the family members during a recent visit to the Middle East and Pakistan.

The World Health Organisation said 12 cases of the virus, which comes from the same family as SARS, have been reported. Five people, three in Saudi Arabia and two in Jordan, have died in the Middle East.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that includes causes of the common cold but can also include more severe illness such as the virus responsible for SARS.

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