Contagion: Officials Warn of Deadly New Virus
Good morning. The U.S. is now warning health officials to be on the alert for a scary new virus—a deadly cousin of SARS that's already killed eight and infected 14.
This virus is a coronavirus, the same family of virus as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and also the common cold. This new virus is similar to SARS and also found in bats.
Most of the infections have occurred in the Middle East, but three confirmed infections in the U.K. reveal that it can most likely spread from person to person, rather than from animals to humans. The infection started in Britain with a 60-year-old man who had traveled to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and developed a respiratory illness on January 24, 2013—he is infected with both the new virus and the H1N1, or the swine flu. He passed the illness to two people in his house, a man with an underlying illness who died February 6 and a healthy adult female who developed the illness February 5. She did not need to be hospitalized and has since recovered.
No cases reported yet in the United States and no travel restrictions yet from the World Health Organization or the CDC. The CDC has stated people who return from the Arabian Peninsula and develop a severe acute lower respiratory illness within 10 days should follow these guidelines.
So yes, again, good morning.
