Saudi Arabia confirms 4 news cases of SARS-linked virus

An electron microscope image of a coronavirus, provided by the British Health Protection Agency, is shown. The virus is part of a family of viruses that cause ailments, including the common cold and SARS, and was first identified last year in the Middle East. (Health Protection Agency)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has confirmed four new cases of a deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS that appears centred in the Arabian Peninsula but that has also been reported in Europe.

The official Saudi Press Agency said Tuesday that one patient was treated and released from a hospital, while three others remain under medical care.

Saudi authorities have reported nearly 30 cases since the virus was identified last year. Other cases have appeared in France, Germany and Britain, possibly linked to travel in the Gulf region.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 18 people since September 2012. The new virus is related to SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global epidemic in 2003, and belongs to a family of viruses that most often causes the common cold.