 Story highlights "These are alarm bells," said World Health Organization director-general 
 
 The WHO dubs the virus MERS-CoV 
 
 Patient with novel coronavirus dies of organ failure, French hospital reports 
 
 Half of those diagnosed with the virus have died, experts say 
 
 A new SARS-like virus recently found in humans is "a threat to the entire world," according to the director-general of the United Nations' World Health Organization. The so-called novel coronavirus "is not a problem that any single affected country can keep to itself or manage all by itself," Margaret Chan said Monday in her closing remarks at the 66th World Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The world needs to pull together its resources to properly tackle the virus which, Chan said, is her "greatest concern" at present. Novel coronavirus is part of a family called coronaviruses, which cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as well as a variety of animal diseases. Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How is dangerous new virus spreading? JUST WATCHED Coronavirus reported in France Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Coronavirus reported in France 02:55 
 
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 The virus had infected 44 people worldwide as of last week, most of them in the Middle East, according to the World Health Organization's most recent update Thursday. The second patient, also male, was in stable but very serious condition, the hospital said. A patient died May 28 in France after having contracted the virus during a trip to the Middle East. However, "all of the European cases have had a direct or indirect connection to the Middle East," the WHO said earlier this month. Middle East respiratory symptom coronavirus, or MERS-CoV, acts like a cold virus and attacks the respiratory system, the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. But symptoms, which include fever and a cough, are severe and can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure. It's not yet known how humans contract the virus, experts have said. Most of the cases so far have been seen in older men with other medical conditions; precise numbers are hard to come by, as officials don't know how many people might contract a mild form. Although many of the cases have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula, people have died of the infection elsewhere, including in four European countries and Tunisia.
– MERS-CoV, the potentially deadly virus that spread from the Middle East to France last month, is now creeping further, with three cases reported in Italy this weekend. The patients, a 42-year-old woman, 45-year-old man, and 2-year-old girl, are said to be in stable condition. The man recently traveled to Jordan, and is reported to be a close contact of the two female patients, CNN reports. Of the 52 people known to be infected with the virus since September 2012, 30 have died. The virus is "a threat to the entire world," WHO General Director Margaret Chan told the World Health Assembly this week, reports CNN. "We understand too little about this virus when viewed against the magnitude of its potential threat," said Chan. "We do not know where the virus hides in nature. We do not know how people are getting infected. Until we answer these questions, we are empty-handed when it comes to prevention. These are alarm bells. And we must respond."