A patient receiving intensive care treatment at a Manchester hospital has been diagnosed with a new type of coronary virus, the U.K.'s Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed this week.
The new patient is a U.K. resident who recently traveled to the Middle East and Pakistan.
“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,” said John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPS.
The risk associated with the 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, according to Watson.
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"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," he said.
Worldwide there have been 10 confirmed cases of the virus. Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties and fever, Web Pro News noted.
The first case of the new coronavirus was diagnosed in the U.K. in September 2012.The patient died from a severe respiratory infection. Since then, the HPA has been working with the World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease and Prevention to monitor the illness caused by new virus.
Coronaviruses generally infect the upper respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract, Web Pro News noted. Although the virus can be linked to the common cold, it can also steam from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
In Sep. 2012, Dr. Andrew Simor, Sunnybrook's chief of microbiology and infectious diseases posted a video on YouTube were he talks about the discovery of the new coronavirus and encouraged viewers to get the influenza vaccine for protection.
