Deadly SARS-like virus spreads to France as Australia develops test for H7N9
12 May, A SECOND person has contracted a deadly new SARS-like virus in France after sharing a hospital ward with the first victim.
The virus, known as nCoV-EMC, is a cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which triggered a scare 10 years ago when it erupted in east Asia.
Then it moved to humans from animal hosts and killed 800 people.
The latest victim shared a hospital room with a 65-year-old man who is in intensive care in the northern town of Lille.
The virus has already killed 18 people, mostly in Saudi Arabia.
“Positive results (for the virus) have been confirmed,” for both patients, who are being treated in isolation wards, the health ministry said in a statement today.
Two more potential cases are being investigated.
The regional health authority said the first man, who was hospitalised after returning from a holiday in Dubai in April, is in a “very serious but stable condition”.
The virus was first detected in September 2012 and since then more than 30 cases have been reported in several countries including Jordan, Britain and Germany.
Meanwhile, A test for a deadly new strain of bird flu has been developed by Australian scientists.
The H7N9 strain has killed at least 32 people and infected over 130, mainly in China, with one reported case in Taiwan.
Pathology Queensland has modified an existing bird flu test to specifically detect the new strain in throat swabs or breath samples taken from patients suspected of having the virus.
The result is then confirmed with further analysis.
Professor Graeme Nimmo, director of microbiology Pathology Queensland, says the test is an essential part of being prepared for any potential bird flu pandemic.
“It allows cases to be detected very rapidly, enabling treatment to commence in as short a possible time, limiting the spread of the disease and the impact on the community,” he said in a statement.
Queensland Health Minister Lawrence Springborg applauded the work of local pathologists in helping to protect communities.
-AFP
