BERLIN — Germany's national health institute says a patient from Qatar has been confirmed with a new type of coronavirus but it has shown no signs of being easily transmitted like the related virus that caused the 2003 global SARS outbreak.
The Robert Koch Institute said Friday the patient fell ill in Qatar in October with severe respiratory problems. He was treated in a specialty clinic in Germany for a month and released this week.
Britain's Health Protection Agency confirmed based on samples that he was sickened by a new coronavirus detected so far only in four other people, from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The Koch institute says there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Some 8,500 people were affected by SARS in 2003 and about 900 died.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.