Patient dies from Sars-like virus

The man who died of the Sars-like novel coronavirus infection had no recent history of foreign travel, suggesting that transmission had occurred in Britain, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said.

Read: More on the patient who died at a Birmingham hospital after contracting the Sars-like coronavirus.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is continuing its investigation into the Sars-like novel coronavirus infection after three members of the same family tested positive for the condition in the UK.

Since September last year, when an earlier case of the condition was diagnosed in the UK, 12 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus have been reported globally - killing six people.

Health protection workers have established that the patient being treated for novel coronavirus at a Manchester hospital had recently travelled to the Middle East and Pakistan, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said.

Professor John Watson of the HPA said last week, "Our assessment is that the risk associated with novel coronavirus to the general UK population remains extremely low and the risk to travellers to the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding countries remains very low".

"People who develop severe respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath, within ten days of returning from these countries should seek medical advice and mention which countries they have visited", he added.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham said last week the novel coronavirus patient's admission had been subject to "stringent infection controls".

The patient, who died Sunday morning in the hospital's critical care unit, is believed to have contracted the virus from a relative who is being treated for the condition at a Manchester hospital.

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Coronaviruses are part of a family of RNA-containing viruses known to cause severe respiratory illnesses.

The Health Protection Agency said coronaviruses are causes of the common cold but can also include more severe illness, such as the virus responsible for Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

This new strain of coronavirus, known as novel coronavirus, was first identified in September 2012 in a patient who died from a severe respiratory infection in June 2012.

The virus has so far only been identified in a small number of cases of acute, serious respiratory illness who presented with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.

The World Health Organisation stressed it is not known how people become infected with this virus. However, it suggests avoiding close contact with anyone who shows symptoms of illness - coughing and sneezing - and maintaining good hand hygiene.

There is no vaccine currently available.

A patient has died at a Birmingham hospital after contracting the Sars-like coronavirus, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said today.

The patient, who has yet to be named, died on Sunday morning in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham's (QEHB) critical care unit.

The person is believed to have contracted the novel coronavirus from a relative who is being treated for the condition in a Manchester hospital.

The deceased had a problem with their auto-immune system and had been an outpatient at QEHB undergoing treatment for a "long-term, complex unrelated health condition".

"QEHB is working closely with the Health Protection Agency, which is currently following up other household members and contacts of this case", the NHS Trust added.