A newly discovered and often deadly virus related to one that causes the common cold has struck another victim , this time in France . A man hospitalized in April is infected with the novel coronavirus , France 's Health Ministry said Thursday . The NCoV virus was recently found for the first time in humans and scattered cases have occurred across parts of the Middle East , particularly Saudi Arabia . It has proved deadly in more than half of the confirmed cases so far , according to the World Health Organization . Of 31 people with confirmed infections , at least 18 have died . But infectious disease specialists believe the virus is very difficult to catch . The newly infected man is the first confirmed infection in France , the Health Ministry said . He had recently returned from travel to the United Arab Emirates , which is on the Arabian Peninsula . Identifying the source of the man 's ailment took time , the ministry said . France 's Pasteur Institute confirmed the case Wednesday . The Health Ministry is seeking anyone who may have had contact with the patient . NCoV , like some common colds , is also caused by a coronavirus . And like a cold , it attacks the respiratory system , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said . But symptoms are severe and can lead to pneumonia and even kidney failure . `` Once it gets you , it 's a very serious infection , '' said Dr. William Schaffner , an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville . NCoV has also been compared to related coronavirus , the one that causes SARS , or severe acute respiratory syndrome , which appears to have been contained in 2004 , according to the CDC . Although its discovery in humans is new , NCoV would seem potentially deadlier , when contracted , than SARS . Of the some 8,000 verified cases of SARS , fewer than 800 people -- less than one-tenth of those infected -- died .
Out of 31 confirmed cases of infection , the NCoV virus has killed at least 18 people . The virus is related to one that causes the common cold , also a coronavirus . NCoV has been compared to SARS , which killed about 10 % of its confirmed victims .