The SARS-like virus has claimed its first victim in France, said French health ministry on Tuesday.

The University Hospital of Lille that has hospitalized two SARS-like patients for medical treatment has confirmed in a statement the death of the first admitted patient "following a multi-organ failure."

The hospital has implemented all the necessary material means and human resources and tried its utmost to treat the patient, it added.

This 65-year-old man had been at first admitted to the hospital in Valenciennes in northern France on April 23 after returning from Dubai and then transferred to a hospital in Douai on April 29, where his respiratory problems had been detected.

He was confirmed infected by a nCoV-EMC virus, a SARS-like coronavirus, on May 7 and placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at the University Hospital of Lille on the following day.

His hospital roommate in Valenciennes, a 50-year-old man, was later also confirmed infected by the same virus and hospitalized at the University Hospital of Lille.

His health situation was stable but remained serious, the hospital said.

The SARS-like virus was first detected in September 2012. The World Health Organization's new data showed that 20 out of the 40 confirmed patients have died of this fatal disease.

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