It was more than a decade ago that SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) killed hundreds of people in China. The outbreak was so deadly, and it affected people in almost 37 countries. Now, on January 5, Chinese authorities have confirmed that mysterious viral pneumonia has affected 59 people.
Is this outbreak SARS?
It should be noted that this viral infection was first reported last week in Wuhan, a central Chinese city. Soon, rumors started spreading on the internet stating that SARS has once again affected the country.
As rumors started flooding on the internet, the Wuhan Health Commission confirmed that the current virus outbreak is not SARS. Wuhan Local Police, on last Wednesday, revealed that they have arrested eight people for spreading false information over the internet regarding the new viral outbreak.
"We have excluded several hypotheses, in particular, the fact that it is a flu, the avian flu, an adenovirus, respiratory syndrome severe acute (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)," said the Wuhan Health Commission, Science Alert reports.
What caused the virus outbreak?
The health commission in Wuhan revealed that the condition of seven people out of 59 is a little serious, and every one of them are being now treated in quarantine. As per reports, this viral infection broke out between December 12 and 29, 2019. Reports from the health commission revealed that most of the patients who were affected by this mysterious virus were employed at a seafood market in the city.
"There is limited information to determine the overall risk of this reported cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology. The reported link to a wholesale fish and live animal market could indicate an exposure link to animals.
The symptoms reported among the patients are common to several respiratory diseases, and pneumonia is common in the winter season; however, the occurrence of 44 cases of pneumonia requiring hospitalization clustered in space and time should be handled prudently," said WHO in a recent statement.
