The sick Chinese were admitted with symptoms of pneumonia and placed in quarantine. No one has died so far. Nevertheless, the World Health Organization is concerned about the outbreak.
Related to SARS
An initial exploratory study by Chinese scientists shows that the virus belongs to the virus family that also includes SARS. The SARS virus is considered to be one of the most dangerous viruses of our time. Nearly 800 people died in 2002 and 2003. No new cases of SARS have been reported since 2004.
–
–
The Chinese who are now infected with the new virus seem to have contracted that at a fish market where many live animals were also sold. It may therefore have been transmitted to humans via birds or other animals. The families of the victims did not become ill, so for now the virus does not seem to spread easily from person to person.
Chinese New Year
A relief, because the outbreak comes a few weeks before the Chinese New Year, the most important holiday in China. 1.4 billion people are expected to travel to relatives, which would allow an infectious virus to spread rapidly.
–
–
The fish market where the patients became infected is closed and disinfected. The United States is calling on Americans traveling to Wuhan to wear masks and have no contact with animals. The Netherlands has not issued an opinion about the virus.
–
–
