In Britain a patient is being treated for a potentially fatal virus that has never been seen before in humans.

The man is from Qatar and is in intensive care at a London hospital after becoming infected.

It is being linked to Saudi Arabia where another man has died from the new type of coronavirus.

Coronaviruses are species of virus belonging to the subfamily Coronavirinae in the family Coronaviridae.

The name “coronavirus” is derived from the Latin corona – meaning crown or halo – and refers to the appearance of virions under electron microscope with a fringe of large, bulbous surface projections creating an image similar to the coma of the sun.

They infect humans and animals in which they cause respiratory and enteric disease.

These infections are caused by a newly-identified coronavirus.

Experts are examining whether previous deaths in the Middle East are from the same virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is reportedly monitoring the situation.

A large number of coronaviruses just cause common colds.

But a coronavirus was also the cause of the 2003 SARS outbreak which killed about 775 people worldwide.

The new coronavirus reportedly causes severe pneumonia and kidney failure.

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