France confirms 3 cases of coronavirus from China, 1st in Europe

PARIS -- France has announced three confirmed cases of the deadly new virus from China, the first cases in Europe and the first outside Asia and the United States.

Authorities said all three sickened people had travelled to China.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said she expects more cases and that the virus must be battled like a wildfire. She said the likely reason that France has the first European cases is that it quickly developed a test allowing medics to rapidly diagnose the sickened.

All three cases in France have been hospitalized, in isolation -- two in Paris, the other in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.

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  This undated image released by the British Health Protection Agency shows an electron microscope image of a coronavirus, part of a family of viruses that cause ailments including the common cold and SARS, which was first identified last year in the Middle East. (AP / Health Protection Agency)