Photo: ALAMY
Relative of a British patient who recently contracted a potentially fatal SARS-like virus has also become infected with the disease, health experts say.
The patient, who has not been named, is receiving treatment in an isolation room at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and is said to be in a stable condition.
The other two confirmed cases of the new coronavirus have travelled to the Middle East where it is thought the disease has originated.
However this person has not been abroad recently but is related to one the other British patient confirmed on Monday and who is being treated in Manchester.
The first patient was a 49-year-old Qatari man who was diagnosed last year in Britain.
Experts said there have been other linked cases, elsewhere in the world, but this represents the best evidence to date of person to person transmission.
The new patient is understood to have a long-term medical condition which makes them more susceptible to respiratory infections and the risk to the general population remains low.
Coronaviruses normally cause coughs and colds and are spread through droplets in the air. However this new variation is causing severe pneumonia and in some cases kidney problems.
Experts said as the new strain was detected more than three months ago and this is the first time it is thought to have been passed between people that this suggests it is not particularly infectious.
The new strain is similar to bat viruses but the origin is still under investigation.
There have been 11 cases diagnosed worldwide, three of which have been in Britain. It has killed almost half of those who have been diagnosed.
The Telegraph has the full article
