Qatari with mystery virus still in critical condition: WHO

GENEVA (AFP) - A Qatari man suffering from a new respiratory virus from the same family as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) remains in critical condition, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.

"He is still in critical condition" at a London hospital, Mr Gregory Haertl, a spokesman for the United Nations health body, told reporters in Geneva.

The 49-year-old Qatari was admitted to an intensive care unit in Doha on Sept 7 suffering from acute respiratory infection and kidney failure before being transferred to Britain by air ambulance on Sept 11, the WHO said.

A Saudi Arabian national died earlier this year from a virtually identical virus, the WHO said.