Coronavirus: Mysterious Virus Spreads As 10th Case Seen in UK

It looks related to SARS. The mysterious virus has spread from the Middle East to the UK. The 10th case has been observed from a U.K. resident who had traveled in the Middle East and Pakistan.

In a statement from the AP Monday from Britain’s Health Protection Agency, the patient is currently confined in the intensive care unit of a Manchester hospital.

International health officials call the virus a coronavirus – a family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS. Symptoms include acute breathing problems and kidney failure.

CBS reports that “there is no proof the virus spreads easily between humans, but experts suspect humans can catch it from animals such as bats or camels. One expert, Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Minnesota, told the Associated Press last September that bats may have passed on the virus from other animals and it could be a complicated transmission chain that ultimately ends in humans.”