UK resident confirmed positive for novel coronavirus infection

A United Kingdom resident has been confirmed positive for infection with the novel coronavirus (NCoV), according to a World Health Organization (WHO) Global Alert and Response Feb. 11.

Image/CIA

The individual  developed symptoms of illness on 26 January 2013. Laboratory investigations on respiratory specimens have revealed both an Influenza A(H1N1) pdm09 infection and a confirmed NCoV infection.

He is receiving intensive care treatment in a Manchester hospital.

Preliminary investigation reveals that the patient had a history of travel to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Further investigation into the case is ongoing.

Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), said: “The HPA is providing advice to healthcare workers to ensure the patient under investigation is being treated appropriately and that healthcare staff who are looking after the patient are protected. Contacts of the case are also being followed up to check on their health.

“Our assessment is that the risk associated with novel coronavirus to the general UK population remains extremely low and the risk to travelers to the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding countries remains very low. No travel restrictions are in place but 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.”

The WHO says the case is sporadic; however, it does indicate that the virus is persistent.

This latest case brings the total number of confirmed cases globally to 10, of which two have been diagnosed in the UK.

According to the HPA, coronaviruses are causes of the common cold but can also include more severe illness, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). This new 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.

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