The World Health Organization (WHO) is reporting the fourteenth confirmed case of novel coronavirus (NCoV) infection after the Saudi Arabia Health Ministry notified the UN health agency earlier, according to a WHO Global Alert and Response Mar. 6.
According to the alert, a 69-year-old male was hospitalized on 10 February 2013 and died on 19 February 2013. Preliminary investigation indicated that the patient had no contact with previously reported cases of NCoV infection and did not have recent history of travel.
This case follows another NCoV fatality in the Saudi Kingdom last month.
In addition to being the 14th confirmed case of this infection, this patients represents the eighth fatality. In Saudi Arabia alone, there has been seven confirmed cases resulting in five deaths.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness in humans and animals. In humans, this large family of viruses are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
This is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans.
The symptoms common in confirmed cases include acute, serious respiratory illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. Based on current clinical experience, the infection generally presents as pneumonia. It has caused kidney failure and death in some cases.
Although the ability of person-to-person transmission is unclear, a recent family cluster of NCoV affecting three people in the United Kingdom opens up the question of person-to-person transmission.
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