DUBAI (REUTERS) - A family in the United Arab Emirates, arriving from China's central city of Wuhan, has been diagnosed with a case of the new coronavirus, the health ministry said on Wednesday (Jan 29).

It is the first known confirmed case in the UAE of a virus that has killed at least 132 people in China.

The UAE is a major air transport hub with its Dubai International airport ranked the world's third busiest, and the hub of Emirates airline.

It was not immediately clear how many people had been infected. The ministry of health and the government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Those diagnosed with the virus were in stable condition and under medical observation, the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM.

The statement did not say where the family was being treated. The UAE is a country of seven emirates, though the majority of the population lives in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.