The man in the city of Al Ain was admitted to hospital last month, the WHO said in a statement. Health officials had checked 108 people that he was in contact with, but no secondary infections had turned up so far, it added.

The WHO said there were no signs the man had come into contact with dromedary camels, which spread the disease that is separate from COVID-19. It gave no more details on his current condition.

Cases of MERS-CoV - which can cause fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and in some cases can lead to pneumonia - have been recorded in 27 countries since 2012, according to the WHO. Over that time, more than 2,600 cases and some 930 associated deaths have been reported, data show.