China still remained on high alert following the outbreak of a mysterious strain of pneumonia that has already infected more than a dozen people. China, and the rest of Asia, is now scrambling to put precautionary measures in place. Fortunately, the return of the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus has been ruled out by health officials.
According to a statement released by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on Sunday, a total of 59 patients have been diagnosed to be infected by the unknown viral strain of pneumonia in the city. All of the affected patients have already been quarantined and no deaths have yet been reported.
The commission further stated that the infection likely broke out somewhere between December 12 and December 29. The source of the infection has yet to be determined but a number of the patients were employed at a seafood market in Wuhan. The same market also sold other live animals, including rabbits, birds, snakes, and rabbits. Authorities are still trying to investigate that angle to find the source.
The infected patients all suffer from the same pneumonia symptoms, including fever, difficulty breather, and visible invasive lesions on their lungs under chest radiographs. Experts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have ruled out SARS, bird flu, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome as the culprits and mentioned that the infection is a brand-new type of viral pneumonia.
Health officials are working hard to contain the infection to prevent an outbreak similar to the SARS outbreak in 2002. During that time, SARS managed to spread to over 37 countries worldwide, infecting more than 8,000 people. By 2003, the illness had killed a total of 774 people.
The corona virus that had caused SARS was traced to the wild civet car, a common delicacy in some parts of China. Meanwhile, the MERS virus was traced to dromedary camels. Health experts pointed out that new pathogens often come from viruses transmitted to humans from animals.
As of the moment, authorities have stated that there is still no evidence that the disease moving from human to human as no health care workers have been infected. However, health officials are not taking any risks and everyone that has had close contact with the patients is being kept under strict medical observation.
Airports in China, Singapore, South Korea, and other neighboring countries have already implemented preventive measures to avoid the possible spread of the infection. Airports have begun using temperature screenings and requirement illness disclosures from travelers.
