Death toll from SARS-like virus rises to 7

"Another person suffering from a SARS-like virus has died in Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization said Thursday, bringing the worldwide number of fatalities from the mystery illness to seven," Agence France-Presse reports. "The Saudi health ministry had informed the U.N.'s health body that the patient had been hospitalized on January 29 and had died on February 10, WHO said in a statement," adding that "[a] laboratory had confirmed on February 18 that the person had died from the so-called novel coronavirus, or NCoV," AFP writes (2/21). "The virus ... was unknown in humans until it emerged in the Middle East last year," Reuters notes, adding, "There have now been 13 confirmed cases worldwide, including in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Britain." The news service writes, "The Geneva-based agency said it was monitoring the situation closely but it did not believe special screening at airports or other points of entry was necessary, nor did it recommend any travel or trade restrictions" (Hirschler, 2/21).