Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — The World Health Organization (WHO) is keeping a close eye on a new type of flu virus reported in Saudi Arabia. British health authorities have alerted the UN of the new respiratory virus in a severely ill patient who recently traveled to Saudi Arabia — where another man died of a similar illness earlier this year. The man in the new case was sickened by a coronavirus, which causes most common colds but also causes SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. In 2003, SARS killed about 800 people worldwide in a short-lived outbreak. While word of a coronavirus outbreak immediately brings SARS to mind, there is too little information at this point to say whether this is anything more than a blip on the viral radar. Still, with pilgrims beginning to gather in Saudi Arabia for next month's Haj, the public health community is on alert. “As with any new virus, this is of concern to us and we're watching it very closely,” WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said. Britain's Health Protection Agency and the World Health Organization said in statements that the 49-year-old Qatari national became ill on Sept. 3, having previously traveled to Saudi Arabia. He was transferred from Qatar to Britain on Sept. 11 and is being treated in an intensive care unit at a London hospital for problems including kidney failure. The UN health agency says virus samples from the patient are almost identical to those of the 60-year-old Saudi national who died earlier this year. Experts said it was unclear how dangerous the virus is. “We don't know if this is going to turn into another SARS or if it will disappear into nothing,” said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota. “You don't die from the common cold,” he said. “This gives us reason to think it might be more like SARS.” The World Health Organization says it is trying to determine the public health implications of the two cases but isn't currently recommending travel restrictions. A report on the discovery of the new coronavirus appeared last week on ProMED-mail, an Internet-based system for monitoring infectious diseases around the world. Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki, a microbiologist from a hospital in Jeddah, revealed that a new coronavirus had been recovered from a 60-year-old man suffering from pneumonia and renal failure. Dr. Zaki said the new virus was part of a group of coronaviruses that are closely related to bat coronaviruses. – With agencies
