France’s health ministry on Wednesday reported the country’s first case of a Sars-like virus that has killed 18 people so far, mostly in Saudi Arabia.
An unidentified person who came back to France from a trip to the United Arab Emirates was diagnosed with the deadly novel coronavirus, the ministry said.
“This is the first and only confirmed case in France to date,” it added.
The patient is currently in intensive care in hospital and has been placed in isolation.
The virus, known in medical jargon as nCoV-EMC, was first detected in September last year and since then more than 30 cases have been reported in different countries, with 18 deaths.
While it has been deadliest in Saudi Arabia, where 11 people have been killed by the virus, other cases have been reported in Jordan, Germany, Britain and now France.