New Deadly SARS-like Virus in The Middle-East, Threat to the World - WHO

Three people have died from a a deadly new SARS-like virus, taking the total death toll to 27.
The unnamed victims were from Saudi Arabia and died in the country's eastern region, the Saudi health ministry confirmed today.

Yesterday, a 65-year-old man died in France as health officials warned the MERS-CoV virus is now a global threat with 49 confirmed cases worldwide.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation warned that the disease, first identified in humans in September, is now their greatest global concern.

The MERS-CoV virus is related to SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global epidemic in 2003.
Dr. Margaret Chan, head of the WHO, singled out the illness in a speech on Monday in Geneva.

'We understand too little about this virus when viewed against the magnitude of its potential threat,' Chan said at the annual WHO meeting.

'We do not know where the virus hides in nature. We do not know how people are getting infected. Until we answer these questions, we are empty-handed when it comes to prevention. These are alarm bells. And we must respond.'

She said the 'novel coronavirus is a threat to the entire world.'