Friday, January 17, 2020, 10:39 AM
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In researching a new type of lung virus, China has sought the help of experts from around the world, including those from Erasmus MC in Rotterdam.
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The new coronavirus – which affects the airways and can lead to death in serious cases – was discovered last month in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan. Thursday a second patient succumbed to the effects of the virus. Dozens of people in the city are infected. The virus has now been diagnosed in forty people. The disease has also emerged in Thailand and Japan.
The virus is suddenly the main activity of virus researchers in Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. “We gather information, consult and develop tests to be able to detect the virus,” says virologist Bart Haagmans against the NOS.
Erasmus MC is one of the worldwide ‘reference laboratories’. If people in the Netherlands have complaints that may indicate the corona virus, they can be diagnosed there.
Via the World Health Organization (WHO), Haagmans talks almost daily with colleagues from other European countries, America and China in teleconferences about what their next steps will be. According to the European health institute ECDC, the risk of the coronavirus also appearing in Europe is low.
Under control
For the time being, the outbreak seems to be reasonably under control, says Haagmans. Unlike the SARS outbreak, the Chinese are now taking action faster, patients are being isolated or placed in quarantine. This reduces the chance of the virus being transmitted from person to person.
“Fortunately, there are as yet no examples of hospital staff who were infected by a patient,” says Haagmans. “That was a problem when the SARS and MERS viruses broke out.”
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