BANGUI, March 14 (Reuters) - Central African Republic (CAR) on Saturday confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, a 74-year-old Italian who had recently been in Milan, the World Health Organization said.

The patient, who resides in CAR, first presented symptoms on March 8, one day after returning to the country, but health authorities were not alerted to his case until March 13, WHO said in a statement. (Reporting by Antoine Rolland; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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