French health officials have confirmed a second case of the sars-like coronavirus in what appears to be a case of human-to-human transmission.<br />According to reuters, "the new infection was found in a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room with France's only other known sufferer, the ministry said in a statement.<br />Health experts are concerned about clusters of the new coronavirus strain, nCoV, which was first spotted in the Gulf and has spread to France, Britain and Germany.<br />There has so far been little evidence of direct and sustained human-to-human transmission of nCoV - in contrast to the pattern seen in the related Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which killed 775 people in 2003.<br />The first nCoV case in France, confirmed on May 8, is a 65-year-old man who fell ill after returning from Dubai late last month.<br />Both French patients are in hospital in the northern city of Lille, where the younger man was transferred to intensive care on Sunday as his breathing deteriorated.<br />His case suggests that airborne transmission of the virus is possible, though still unusual, said Professor Benoit Guery, head of the Lille hospital's infectious diseases unit.<br />"Fortunately, this remains a virus that is not easily transmitted," Guery told the BFMTV channel. "I don't think the public should be concerned - it has been out there for a year and we have 34 cases globally."<br />He said the second French case had occurred because the first patient presented "quite atypical" symptoms and had not been isolated immediately.<br />Health officials screened 124 people who had come into contact with him and carried out laboratory tests on at least five, including three medical staff.<br />All came back negative except the fellow patient, who had been in "close and prolonged contact" when they shared a hospital room in nearby Valenciennes between April 27 and 29, the ministry said.<br />French authorities are now broadening the screening effort to include anyone who has been in contact with the second confirmed case."<br /><br />INCLUDE IN TOMONEWSUS AS FOOTER. DELETE FOR REUTERS AND NEWSDIRECT)<br /><br />FOR MORE NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=NMAWorldEdition <br /><br />FOR MORE NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION IN ENGLISH, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=NMAtv <br /><br />FOR MORE TOMONEWS US, GO TO:<br />http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS <br /><br />FOR MORE TOMONEWS JP, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsJP <br /><br />FOR MORE APPLE DAILY ENGLISH, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AppleDailyEnglish <br /><br />CHECK OUT THE ODDBODS!<br />http://www.youtube.com/user/nxTomo
