A 65-year-old Frenchman has contracted the novel coronavirus after a trip to Dubai, officials said.
The unidentified man is in isolation in an intensive care unit of a French hospital.
The new virus strain, which recently killed seven in Saudi Arabia, is related to the virus that causes SARS. It causes fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, and can lead to kidney failure and death.
The man is the first confirmed case in France, but 19 suspicious cases now have been identified there, plus two more in the UK among the family of an infected visitor from Saudi Arabia.
In all, the World Health Organization has identified 31 confirmed cases, and 18 deaths, from the virus, which was first identified in September. Most of the cases have been in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
