New SARS-like virus discovered from the Middle East.

The new virus has killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia.

Global health authorities are closely monitoring a new virus that belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The new virus has killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia and sent a Qatari citizen to a hospital in London, England, in critical condition.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the virus sample from the newly infected patient closely matched the test results of another Saudi Arabian national who died earlier this year from a similar cause. However, Saudi Arabian health officials insisted that the patient's relatives showed no signs of infection with the virus.

Currently, global health officials have not determined whether the speed and spread of this new virus are similar to that of SARS. The SARS outbreak in Asia in late 2002 and early 2003 claimed the lives of approximately 800 people. Both viruses belong to the Coronavirus family, which also includes viruses that cause the common cold. However, scientists believe that victims of this new virus were likely infected directly from animals, and there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

The WHO has not issued travel restrictions for citizens of Saudi Arabia in particular, or the Middle East in general. However, the organization has expressed concern that the virus could spread widely during the Hajj pilgrimage next month, when millions of people from around the world will travel to Saudi Arabia.

According to VOV - NT