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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : January 9, 2020 2:46 PM IST
As on January 11, 41 novel coronavirus confirmed infection case have been reported from China, of which one has died. @Shutterstock
China is facing a health crisis in the form of a mysterious disease. There has been a pneumonia outbreak. Chinese experts say that the virus strain is the same as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). They have identified a new coronavirus in 15 out of the 57 affected patients in Wuhan where it first made an appearance on December 12. Coronaviruses are responsible for many diseases including the common cold and SARS. Symptoms are fever and cough. In severe cases, it can cause kidney failure and even death. All coronaviruses are, however, not contagious.
Though SARS is a lethal disease, experts have confirmed that the new variant may not be as dangerous. Symptoms are fever. In some cases, patients may experience difficulty breathing. There is no proof of human-to-human transmission as yet. Since, most of the patients worked at a seafood market, there may have been animal-to-human transmission. Because the disease first made an appearance in Wuhan, experts all it the Wuhan pneumonia.
Let us take a look at a few other places that have seen variants of the SARS virus. If you are planning any trip to these places, you may want to steer clear till there is more clarity.
In the first half of January 2020, South Korean health professionals came across a case that bore striking similarity to the Wuhan pneumonia. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made this matter public. The patient is a Chinese woman. She had gone to Wuhan the pevious month. Doctors have isolated her and tests and treatment is under way.
Hong Kong has 38 patients with similar symptoms. They had all been to Wuhan recently and are exhibiting fever or respiratory symptoms. However, 21 patients have been discharged so far and experts have not linked any of the cases to the Wuhan pneumonia.
Singapore sees many people travelling to Wuhan and back. As such, they are not taking any chances and there are temperature screening at airports for people returning from Wuhan. The Ministry of Health has also asked doctors to keep their eyes open for suspected cases of pneumonia among people who recently returned from Wuhan.
