French Social Affairs and Health Minister Marisol Touraine (C) arrives at Roger Salengro hospital in Lille, May 11, 2013, where the patient with confirmed case of the SARS-like coronavirus is treated.

Credit: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol

PARIS | Sun May 12, 2013 6:43am EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - A second case of a new SARS-like coronavirus has been diagnosed in France, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, in what appeared to be a case of human-to-human transmission.

The new infection was found in a patient who had shared a hospital room with the only other confirmed sufferer in France, the ministry said in a statement.

Health experts are concerned about clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain, nCoV, which started in the Gulf and has spread to France, Britain and Germany. But there has so far been little evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Professor Benoit Guery, head of the Lille hospital's infectious diseases unit, said the second infection suggested that airborne transmission of the virus was possible, although the ministry noted that the roommates had had "close and prolonged contact".

"The transmission chain is becoming clearer," Guery told BFM Television.

France's second case was confirmed in a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room in Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old who had fallen ill after returning from Dubai and was later diagnosed with the disease.

Both men are now in hospital in the nearby city of Lille, where they are being kept in isolation.

Health officials screened 124 people who had come into contact with the first confirmed case, and carried out laboratory tests on at least five, including three health professionals.

All came back negative except his former hospital roommate, who had shared a room with him between April 27 and 29, the ministry said.

French health authorities are now broadening their screening effort to include anyone who has been in contact with the second confirmed case.

The latest diagnosis brings the number of cases confirmed globally to 34, after Saudi Arabia said two people admitted to hospital there in April had tested positive for the disease.

(This story is corrected with total number of people screened in paragraph 8 to 124, not 24)

(Reporting by Nicolas Delame; writing by Laurence Frost; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

View the original article here

NEW YORK | Wed May 8, 2013 12:58pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A second New York City pension fund has sold its holdings in firearm manufacturers in response to last year's school shooting in Connecticut, the city's top financial officer said on Wednesday.

The $45.7 billion New York City Employees' Retirement System divested its $16.3 million holdings in Alliant Techsystems Inc, Olin Corp, Sturm Ruger & Co, Sm & Wesson Holding Corp and Forjas Taurus SA, Comptroller John Liu said in statement.

The move follows a similar action by the city's teachers retirement system, which sold its gun holdings in February. And in January, CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, sold its investments in manufacturers of firearms and high-capacity ammunition clips.

"Our city's employees do not want their pension dollars supporting companies whose products tear apart families and shatter communities," Liu said.

U.S. teachers and public employees retirement funds began reviewing their investments in firearms makers after 20 children and six adults were shot dead at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December.

New York state's $150 billion public pension fund said in January that it will stop buying shares of publicly traded firearm manufacturers, including Sturm Ruger.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Bernadette Baum)

View the original article here

NEW YORK | Wed May 8, 2013 12:58pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A second New York City pension fund has sold its holdings in firearm manufacturers in response to last year's school shooting in Connecticut, the city's top financial officer said on Wednesday.

The $45.7 billion New York City Employees' Retirement System divested its $16.3 million holdings in Alliant Techsystems Inc, Olin Corp, Sturm Ruger & Co, Sm & Wesson Holding Corp and Forjas Taurus SA, Comptroller John Liu said in statement.

The move follows a similar action by the city's teachers retirement system, which sold its gun holdings in February. And in January, CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, sold its investments in manufacturers of firearms and high-capacity ammunition clips.

"Our city's employees do not want their pension dollars supporting companies whose products tear apart families and shatter communities," Liu said.

U.S. teachers and public employees retirement funds began reviewing their investments in firearms makers after 20 children and six adults were shot dead at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December.

New York state's $150 billion public pension fund said in January that it will stop buying shares of publicly traded firearm manufacturers, including Sturm Ruger.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Bernadette Baum)

View the original article here