Virologist Sandro Halbe observes cell culture dishes in a research laboratory of the Institute of Virology at the Philipps University of Marburg. The novel coronavirus, which has made hundreds of people sick in China, also employs scientists from Hessen.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The first cases of the deadly coronavirus in the Middle East have been confirmed in the United Arab Emirates, the country's Ministry of Health and Community Protection said in a statement Wednesday.

The infected patients are four members of a family that had traveled from Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million and the epicenter of the new virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000. The vast majority of deaths and infections are in mainland China.

In its statement, the health ministry reported that the family members — a grandmother, two parents and their 9-year-old daughter — were in a stable condition under medical observation. Health authorities in the U.S. say the fatality rate for the respiratory disease is currently between 2% and 3%.

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The Wuhan family had arrived in the UAE as tourists on Jan. 16, an undersecretary at the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention told the Associated Press.

While stressing there was no need for panic, the official, Hussein al-Rand, acknowledged that Emirati authorities were tracing the family's steps since their arrival into the country. Al-Rand told the AP that the grandmother of the family fell ill on Jan. 23, sought medical help and was tested positive for the coronavirus, six days before the case was publicly announced by UAE authorities.

The rest of her family tested positive and was admitted into an unspecified hospital shortly thereafter. The World Health Organization had not reported these cases at the time they were discovered in the country.

The ministry did not specify where in the UAE the cases had appeared nor from which airport the family had entered.

"All family members are in stable condition and the situation was contained by following the most necessary precautionary measures adopted globally when dealing with infected cases," the ministry's statement said, adding that the situation was "not a cause for concern." It said that it was taking "necessary measures" approved by the World Health Organization.

The UAE said last week it would screen all passengers arriving at its airports from China. Dubai International Airport (DXB) is a popular transit hub for Asia and is the world's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic.