A second person has died in China from a mystery virus that has stricken dozens and appeared in two other Asian countries, officials said late on Thursday, january 16, Al Jazeera reports.

The news comes as Thailand reported on Friday that a second Chinese national has been found to be infected of the mystery virus.

In China, local authorities said a 69-year-old man died on Wednesday in Wuhan, the central Chinese city believed to be the epicentre of the outbreak of the virus traced from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen.

The outbreak has caused alarm because of the link with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

At least 41 people have been hit with pneumonia linked to the new virus in China.