Coronavirus controversy

The novel coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), continues to cause new infections, with the report of the first death in France and a new hospital cluster in Saudi Arabia. The viral reservoir of infection is unknown, but human-to-human transmission is suspected to occur. In light of the ongoing transmission, WHO chief Margaret Chan has urged that a global response is needed to cope with this threat. “The novel coronavirus is not a problem that any single affected country can keep to itself or manage all by itself,” she said during the closing remarks of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. At the same time, a patent claim is pending for MERS-CoV-related applications by the Erasmus University Medical Centre (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), where MERS-CoV was first isolated, leading the Saudi Arabian Health Minister to raise concerns about reagent sharing. Margaret Chan said that she “will look at the legal implications”. WHO/BBC News