WHO says new coronavirus may be passed person to person
The World Health Organization says it appears likely that the novel coronavirus (NCoV) can be passed between people in close contact.
This comes after the French health ministry confirmed a second man had contracted the virus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission.
Two more people in Saudi Arabia are also reported to have died from the virus, according to health officials.
NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.
World Health Organization (WHO) officials have expressed concern over the clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to spread.
Novel coronavirus is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that emerged in Asia in 2003.
However, NCoV and Sars are distinct from each other, the WHO said in its statement on Sunday.
Coronavirus is known to cause respiratory infections in both humans and animals.
But it is not yet clear whether it is a mutation of an existing virus or an infection in animals that has made the jump to humans.