China has been battling a new strain of virus just as its citizen prepare to travel during the highly anticipated Lunar New Year, the largest annual human migration in the world. The virus has been first observed in the Central Chinese City of Wuhan. To date, it has infected 200 people and has spread to at least three other countries.
Last Monday, China’s National Health Commission confirmed that the Wuhan coronavirus can be transferred from human to human and that medical staff may also be infected.
To add, South Korea has already confirmed its first case – the third country outside of China to have the virus. Other countries include Thailand and Japan.
“One of the consequences of a more connected world is that outbreaks have the potential to spread internationally much more rapidly than was the case 50 years ago,” states Mike Turner, Director of Science at the Wellcome Trust, a UK health charity, in an article by CNN.
The new virus has been identified, last January 8, as a new strain of Coronavirus, the same family as with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). It can be recalled that SARS has inflicted over 8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic.
Initial symptoms are said to be fever and coughing – common flu symptoms. Some patients with Coronavirus also exhibit difficulty of breathing and invasive lesions on the lungs, according to the World Health Organization. Read more: China is trying to stop the spread of a deadly new virus at the worst possible time of year
