New China coronavirus can
spread between humans
Dr KK Aggarwal
President CMAAO, HCFI and Past
National President IMA
A new Corona virus that has killed at least three people and sickened more than 200
in China can be transmitted between humans as per Chinese government fueling
fears about the possibility of a deadly epidemic as millions prepare to travel
for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Zhong Nanshan, from China's National Health
Commission confirmed that at least two cases had been spread Zhong, who helped discover the severe acute
respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS) in 2003, said the
infectiousness of this virus was not as strong as SARS. SARS infected more than
8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic that ripped through Asia in 2002 and
2003.
The outbreak has spread to Beijing, Shanghai and
Shenzen, hundreds of miles from Wuhan, where the virus first surfaced last
month. Thailand has also reported two cases, while Japan and South Korea
reported one each, taking the global total to 222.
There is only a 1 in 574 chance that
a person infected in Wuhan would travel overseas before they sought medical
care. This implies there might have been over 1,700 cases in Wuhan so far.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
announced three US airports -- in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles --
will start screening passengers arriving from Wuhan to check for signs of the
new virus, following similar measures taken by governments in Asia. [Excerpts CNN]
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