A British coronavirus "super-spreader" is believed to have infected at least 11 people located across three countries.
An unnamed man travelled to a sales conference in Singapore three weeks ago as concern about the deadly illness was only starting to get attention, according to British media.
Also among the more than 100 delegates from around the globe was an individual from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus originated.
While at the conference, the British man became exposed to the illness but was unaware he had contracted it. The man then travelled to a ski resort near France's Mount Blanc where he stayed with relatives for four days before travelling back to the UK via Geneva, Switzerland.
Following his return to the UK, he was informed by the Singapore conference organisers that another delegate had the virus. He then got tested and found he also had the illness.
On Friday (NZ time), France's health minister announced that five British citizens who had stayed at the same ski chalet as the man had become infected. A day later another UK patient who had been in France was tested positive while a man who had been at the chalet and then travelled to Spain was also confirmed infected.
An additional four people in the United Kingdom were confirmed to have the coronavirus on Monday, with authorities saying they were all "known contacts of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France".
The man who is believed to infected the eleven is now in isolation in London while authorities attempt to contact the people who may have come into contact with him, including those who visited an English pub the man had visited after his travels.
While people with coronavirus are believed to be able to pass it on to between two and three other people, super-spreaders can infect far more.
According to Dr Andrew Freedman, a specialist in infectious diseases at Cardiff University, it isn't surprising that a super-spreader has popped up.
"It does appear that the index case has passed on the infection to an unusually large number of contacts. As such, he could be termed a super-spreader."
It's not fully understood why some people can infect more than others. Some experts believe it could be related to the super-spreader being infected with a high dose of the virus or contracting more than one pathogen.
In 2015, one person infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) led to 82 other people becoming ill.
