Confirmation of 2nd coronavirus case in France

Second confirmed case of coronavirus in France

05/12/2013

In France, it was confirmed that a second patient was suffering from the new coronavirus. The condition of the patient is according to authorities "stable but serious".

Contact to the first infected
After giving the all-clear on new cases of suspicion in France yesterday, it was announced on Sunday in Paris by the Ministry of Health that a second patient is suffering from the new coronavirus. The two infected had shared a hospital room before the diagnosis, as it is called from Paris. The patients are isolated in a hospital in Lille. In the 65-year-old first infected was the condition „stable, but serious.“ No typical symptoms were initially evident in the new patient. Another four suspected cases had not been previously confirmed. These were persons who were in contact with the first infected person: a doctor, a nurse, another patient and a relative.

Origin on the Arabian Peninsula
Although many coronaviruses are harmless and cause only a cold, in front of the previously little-studied pathogen Betacoronavirus 2c EMC / 2012 has been warning the World Health Organization for months. The virus belongs to the same family as the SARS pathogen. However, Prof. Clemens Wendtner from the Schwabing Klinikum in Munich said a few months ago: „The risk of infection is not comparable.“ He further explained: „But mortality is very high among those affected.“ Experts believe that there may be an animal reservoir on the Arabian Peninsula that causes the disease. Such animal reservoirs, such as bats, are very typical of coronaviruses. (Sb)

Image: Andreas Dengs, www.photofreaks.ws