Emergence of novel human coronavirus: public health implications in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Two cases of severe respiratory illness associated with a new human coro-navirus have recently raised a global health alert. The first case of infection with the new virus was a Saudi Arabian national who died in June 2012 [1]. The second case was a patient from Qatar, a previously healthy adult, who was transferred to a hospital in the United Kingdom in early September this year [2] and is currently receiving intensive care there. In light of the severity of illness in these two confirmed cases, the discov-ery of this new virus triggered unprec-