Two Saudi health workers have contracted the deadly coronavirus from patients, marking the first evidence of transmission in a hospital setting, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. "This is the first time health care workers have been diagnosed with nCoV (novel coronavirus) infection after exposure to patients," the WHO said in a statement. nl/ric

Four more cases of the deadly coronavirus have been detected in Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said, raising the number of people infected from the SARS-like virus in the kingdom to 28, including 15 fatalities. The four cases were registered in Eastern Province, which has been gripped by panic after it was shown to be home to most of the infection cases in the kingdom, the ministry said on its website late Monday. "One of the people has recovered and discharged, while the other three are still being treated," the ministry said.

LILLE, France (Reuters) - Two people who had contact with a Frenchman who is seriously ill with the new SARS-like coronavirus have fallen sick and been admitted to hospital, health officials in northern France said on Thursday. One is a patient who shared a ward with the 65-year-old man infected with the virus when he was in a hospital in the town of Valenciennes, northern France, at the end of April, and the other is a doctor who treated him there.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - McDonald's says a key sales figure slipped again in April, with the world's biggest hamburger chain citing fears over a new strain of avian flu for weakness in China. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain, which had warned of a decline last month, says the figure fell 0.6 per cent globally. That reflected an increase of 0.7 per cent in the U.S., where it recently introduced its chicken McWraps to attract more customers in their 20s and 30s.