Virus ‘a threat to entire world’

The new Sars-like respiratory illness, which has killed more than half of the people who have been infected with it, is a “threat to the entire world”, theWorld Health Organisation (WHO) has warned. Experts raised concerns that the disease is “emerging faster than our understanding”. The WHO says that since September last year there have been 49 laboratory confirmed cases across eight countries which have resulted in 27 deaths, including two people in the UK. Officials from the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia have confirmed a further five cases of the novel virus. Earlier this week, WHO’s director general said that Middle Eastrespiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS-CoV, is her “greatest concern”. Addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Monday, Dr Margaret Chan said: “Looking at the overall global situation, my greatest concern right now is the novel coronavirus. “We understand too little about this virus when viewed against the magnitude of its potential threat....