Five People Suspected to Have Contracted SARS-Like Virus in Denmark

COPENHAGEN -- Hospital sources said five people have manifested symptoms of a SARS-like virus. They have been taken and admitted to the Odense University Hospital in central Denmark. The five suspected patients are now undergoing medical examinations for signs of infection from a new strain of corona virus. The corona family of viruses include those that trigger the common cold and those that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The incubation period of the new virus is believed to last from one week to ten days. It had been previously detected among individuals who had gone to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Odense University Hospital director Jens Peter Steensen briefed Danish media on Tuesday night that the five suspected patients will be screened for the new viral strain as well as a variety of other common causes of respiratory infection. Steensen added that the patients will be isolated and their test results will be made public on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority had advised people who had gone to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to seek medical assistance in case they develop cough, fever or dyspnea within ten days upon their return from the aforementioned Middle East nations.  UBAlert