France Confirms Second Case of Virus Linked to SARS
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Version 0 of 1. PARIS — France confirmed a second case of a new coronavirus belonging to the same family as SARS on Monday, saying a man who shared a hospital room with the first victim had been infected. The announcement came a day after the World Health Organization announced that the new virus seemed capable of passing between humans, but only after prolonged contact. The organization is carefully monitoring the virus, which was first identified in the Middle East in September and has killed more than half of the 34 people believed to have been infected. On Sunday, an assistant director-general at the World Health Organization, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, said there was no evidence so far that the virus was able to sustain “generalized transmission in communities,” easing fears of a pandemic. Dr. Fukuda spoke in Saudi Arabia, the site of the largest number of infections. “The different clusters seen in multiple countries,” he said, seemed to “increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact, this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person.” The cases in France are being watched closely because the transmission occurred in a shared hospital room. Hospital transmissions were a key factor a decade ago in the outbreak of SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — which was concentrated in Asia and caused hundreds of deaths. In Canada, officials reported about 440 probable or suspect cases in 2003, with more than 40 deaths in Toronto. The second French case was confirmed in a 50-year-old patient who shared a room from April 27-29 with the first victim, a 65-year-old man who had fallen ill after returning from a tour in Dubai. The first patient’s condition was called critical and “worrisome” but stable, while the second’s was said to have worsened Sunday, requiring intensive care, said the health minister, Marisol Touraine. Both were moved from the hospital in Valenciennes, in northern France, to a more specialized hospital in Lille, where they are being kept in isolation. Health professionals are trying to determine how the infection spread. Dr. Benoît Guéry, director of the Lille hospital’s infectious disease unit, said the second case suggested that airborne transmission was possible. “The transmission chain is becoming clearer,” he told BFM-TV. But tests on a doctor, a nurse and other health workers who treated the first patient in Valenciennes have come back negative, as have tests on others who came into contact with him. The authorities have contacted or checked the health of 124 people, including 39 French and Belgians who traveled with him to the United Arab Emirates on a tour from April 9-17. None have indicated any sickness, French officials said. Tests are also under way for 38 people who were in contact with the second man. The French suspect the virus might have jumped to humans from bats, since it is similar to a bat virus, but other animals are being looked at. The transmission might have been indirect; for instance, fruit could have been contaminated by animal droppings. Cases have been reported in Britain and Germany, but most of those with the virus had traveled to Saudi Arabia, other Persian Gulf nations, Jordan or Pakistan. Saudi Arabia has said the country has had 24 confirmed cases since summer, with 15 deaths. Dr. Fukuda, of the World Health Organization, said, “The care that is taken in hospitals, in terms of using respirators well, in terms of treating pneumonia, in terms of treating complications, in terms of providing support, these steps can get patients through this very severe illness.” Lessons from the SARS outbreak about how to prevent transmission are being used, with medical workers taking better care to protect themselves from any respiratory secretions, officials say. Pamphlets on the illness listing precautionary measures (including washing hands frequently and avoiding animals) will be handed out at French airports, especially to travelers visiting the Arabian Peninsula, Ms. Touraine, the health minister, said. “Doctors consider that there is no need for excessive worry, but once again we should be vigilant,” she said. <NYT_AUTHOR_ID> <p>Lawrence K. Altman contributed reporting from Washington. |