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Africa may have second coronavirus case, as Kenya probes case from visiting student

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Africa may have second coronavirus case, as Kenya probes case from visiting student

Africa may have its first incident of the deadly MERS & SARS-like disease known as coronavirus, as health authorities in Kenya are currently investigating a possible case of a student from China with symptoms similar to those of the disease.

Reports say the student who is suspected to be the first case in Kenya and the second in Africa was quarantined immediately at the national referral hospital in the capital, Nairobi, after the symptoms were noticed.

The hospital’s Communication Manager Hezekiel Gikambi has told the BBC that the patient had arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport early Tuesday morning on a Kenya Airways flight from Guangzhou, China, and was rushed to the hospital.

READ ALSO: TURKEY EARTHQUAKE: Erdogan slams those saying the country was unprepared, as death toll hits 29

In China, authorities have revealed that the death toll arising from the outbreak of coronavirus across the country has jumped from 80 to 106.

Authorities on Tuesday also informed that 1,771 new cases of those infected by the virus have been recorded since the infection that emerged in the central province of Hubei late last year has continued to spread across the country.

Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler, reporting from Beijing, said scientists were trying to find out more about the new virus, which is thought to have originated in wild animals.

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