The new novel coronavirus (nCoV), which is similar to the SARS, is spreading across the globe. The French Ministry of Health has just reported the first case of the virus in France.

The 65 year old Frenchman was diagnosed with nCoV following a visit to the United Arab Emirates. He had an underlying medical condition and became ill on 23 April 2013 and was hospitalized. A laboratory test conducted on 7 May 2013 by experts at the Institut Pasteur confirmed that the man was infected with the nCoV.

France is now the second European country (along with the UK) to confirm a case of nCoV.

The new virus is a beta coronavirus and differs from other coronaviruses, such as the common cold, proving to be a very serious infection. Although experts believe the virus is difficult to catch, it is extremely deadly. nCoV has killed more than half of all infected people.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been a total of 33 cases of nCoV from April 2012 to May 2013, of whom 18 died. Countries where there have been reported cases of the virus include:

  • Saudi Arabia – 24 cases
  • Jordan – 2 cases
  • Qatar – 2 cases
  • UK – 3 cases
  • UAE – 1 case
  • France – 1 case

Symptoms of the virus are:

  • Fever
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Respiratory problems

There is evidence of human-to-human transmission of nCoV (possible through contact), although more research is necessary to come to a firm conclusion.

Data sequencing has revealed that the virus is closely related to coronaviruses detected in bats.

In a recent study researchers used lab-grown human lung cells to observe the cellular response to nCoV, and noted which genes were disrupted during the stages of infection. The results of the study allowed the investigators to compare the cellular expression responses of the virus to the coronavirus that caused the global outbreak of SARS.

Despite the fact that the two viruses belong to the same family, the effects they have on human cells differ substantially. In fact, nCoV disrupts more human genes more aggressively and frequently than the SARS coronavirus did.

The novel coronavirus (NCoV) replicates faster than the SARS (SARS-CoV) and is able to penetrate the lining of passageways in the lungs and evade the immune system as easily as the common cold virus can.

In addition, nCoV is proving to be a lot more deadly than SARS, its 50% death rate is much higher than the 9.5% rate during the 2002/2003 SARS pandemic which killed 774 out of 8,098 confirmed cases of human infection in 37 countries.

WHO says it is encouraging “All Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns. Testing for the new coronavirus should be considered in patients with unexplained pneumonias, or in patients with unexplained severe, progressive or complicated respiratory illness not responding to treatment.”

In addition “WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it currently recommend the application of any travel or trade restrictions.”

Written by Joseph Nordqvist