An outbreak of a dangerous virus that began in the Middle East has spread globally and has been detected in a number of countries, health officials say.
Iran is reporting its first cases of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS,) first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012, while authorities in Jordan have also reported one new case.
Iran is thus the 20th country to identify MERS cases. It is the ninth Middle Eastern country to report cases, along with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Lebanon, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
In total, the deadly virus has sickened around 600 people, and there have been some 175 fatalities linked to the disease.
MERS is a coronavirus, a family of viruses that embraces a number of diseases from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed around 800 people during 2003.
Although less contagious than SARS, the MERS virus is considered a more deadly viral threat, experts say.
In the United States there have been two cases of the virus reported, in Florida and Indiana, both in health-care workers who had been in the Middle East.
Europe, Africa and Asia have also reported cases.
Health officials as far away as Australia have expressed concern the virus might reach their countries.
"I think we could well get a case," said Australia's chief medical officer Chris Baggoley, just returned from Geneva where he chaired a committee on the MERS virus for the World Health Organization.
However, he said, health authorities in his country are ready to deal with any cases that might emerge there. "If we get a case, we are well prepared," he said.
Because the virus appeared in people in the Middle East who work with camels and then spread to health workers who cared for them, researchers in Australia say they are screening camels in Australia for any sign of the MERS virus, which can be transmitted to humans who come into contact with the animals.
"Although we've only had camels here for just over 100 years it's unlikely, but it's certainly a possibility," says Gary Crameri, an Australian expert on emerging zoonotic diseases.
Central Australia is home to about 300,000 camels, with some exports of the animals to the Middle East.
Some travel agencies in Australia have said they have been recommending children and the elderly avoid travel plans that include the Middle East.
However, Crameri said, "The risk of picking it up through a loose contact or through a plane is very small. For people just passing through the Middle East or staying in cities, there's very little risk whatsoever. "
