BEIJING, Jan 1, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Authorities are investigating an outbreak
of viral pneumonia in central China amid online speculation that it might be
linked to SARS, the flu-like virus that killed hundreds of people a decade
ago.
There were 27 cases of “viral pneumonia of unknown origin” reported in
Wuhan, in central Hubei province, the city’s health commission said in a
statement.
Seven patients were in a critical condition, while the others were stable
and two could be discharged soon, the commission said.
Initial lab tests have found that there was no “apparent human-to-human
transmission” and that no medical staff were infected, the statement said.
“Investigation of the cause of infection is ongoing,” it added.
All patients have been quarantined and their close contacts are under
medical observation, according to the commission.
Most of the patients worked at a seafood market in the city, it said.
News of the mystery pneumonia outbreak led to speculation online that it
might be linked to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a highly contagious
respiratory disease.
“A number of health officials in Wuhan said that the cause of the current
outbreak is not clear, and it cannot be concluded that it is the SARS virus
as rumoured online,” the official newspaper People’s Daily said on its Weibo
microblog.
“Other severe pneumonia is more likely,” it said.
A team of experts from the National Health Commission were dispatched
Tuesday to Wuhan and are “currently conducting relevant inspection and
verification work,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.
An emergency notification issued Monday by the Wuhan municipal health
committee urged hospitals to offer treatment and report cases in a “timely
manner”.
SARS killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong in
2003.
The virus, which infected more than 8,000 people around the world, is
expected to have originated in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong,
according to WHO.
China sacked its then health minister Zhang Wenkang for the poor handling
of the crisis in 2003, several months after the first case was reported.
WHO announced that China was free of SARS in May 2004.