Mystery Pneumonia In Wuhan Caused By Coronavirus
Posted On January 9, 2020
The mystery pneumonia that infected nearly 60 people in the Chinese city of Wuhan has been discovered. Scientists believe they have found the cause, as preliminary tests indicated the illness was caused by a new coronavirus.
According to lead scientist, Xu Jianguo and The World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus could take the blame for the outbreak. Mr. Xu is leading the efforts to identify the cause. Xu said they found the new type of coronavirus by testing infected blood samples and throat swabs from 15 patients.
The coronavirus can range in severity from the common cold to the deadly Sars virus. Back in 2002-2003 Sars killed more than 700 people around the globe after originating in China.
The WHO representative in China Gauden Galea said: “further investigations were required to determine the source, modes of transmission, the extent of infection and countermeasures implemented.”
Airports in Singapore and Hong Kong will begin temperature checks screening travelers from Wuhan and surrounding areas.
It is still unclear how the illness is transmitted. Health officials have stated that no cases of human-to-human transmission had been confirmed.
(Cover photo courtesy of Bloomberg, video courtesy of South China Morning post, source BBC)
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