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Mysterious new pneumonia from China reaches Japan, experts warn it may spread from person to person

The new strain of coronavirus -- originating in Wuhan, the largest city in central China -- belongs to the same family as the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
UPDATED JAN 16, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Health authorities in Asia are desperately trying to determine the source of a new coronavirus identified in China that has claimed the life of at least one patient and has sickened a dozen others. Meanwhile, fears are mounting across the globe over the cross-border spread of the said pathogen.

The new strain of coronavirus -- originating in Wuhan, the largest city in central China -- belongs to the same family as the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The virus was detected in Japan on Thursday, just days after Thailand confirmed its first case of infection, CNN reports.

As virologists around the world are studying the genome sequence shared by Chinese researchers, the outbreak has cast a dark shadow over Lunar New Year celebrations across Asia.

(Getty Images)

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Watch Level 1 Alert for visitors to Wuhan on Wednesday. The alert is the lowest of a three-tier travel health notice that urges tourists to "be aware and practice usual precautions" as researchers are yet to rule out the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

Japanese medical authorities confirmed on Thursday that a man who had traveled to Wuhan had been infected with the deadly virus.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the said individual had developed a high fever on January 3 while still in Wuhan, and returned to Tokyo three days later testing positive for the virus.

The patient, in his 30s, has reportedly recovered since and was discharged from hospital on Wednesday. According to him, he had not visited the seafood market in Wuhan that has been unofficially deemed the source of the outbreak.

Just days earlier, Thai authorities confirmed that a Chinese tourist from Wuhan had been quarantined with the new virus -- making it the first infection outside of China.

While the 61-year-old woman also said she had not visited the seafood market in Wuhan, she did report "a history of visiting a local fresh market in Wuhan on a regular basis prior to the onset of illness" on January 5, according to the World Health Organization.

The Nanhua Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan, which has been linked with the majority of infected cases in the city, has been shut down for disinfection since January 1.

Furthermore, some "environmental samples" taken from the market had tested positive for the coronavirus, Wuhan health authorities said on Wednesday.

Considering the market also sold other live animals including birds, rabbits, and snakes, authorities believe the virus may have been transmitted to humans from animals -- just like MERS and SARS.

(Getty Images)

The Thai case suggests two possibilities, as per Leo Poon, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong who was one of the first to decode the SARS coronavirus. According to him, the woman was either infected by an animal in another market, or by another infected person.

The first possibility indicates the source of the virus is more widespread than what authorities previously believed. The second possibility enforces the argument that the virus is contagious among human beings -- and this could lead to a global pandemic.

"I think the first possibility is more likely," Poon said. "This also reiterates the issue of food safety -- the risk of selling exotic animals in markets should be assessed now and a new policy should be established as soon as possible."

While Professor Poon and a number of other experts in Hong Kong believe the possibility of human-to-human transmission cannot be excluded. The WHO has long maintained there is no "obvious evidence" to prove the same and noted how no healthcare workers have been infected by the new coronavirus as yet.

Meanwhile, Wuhan health authorities reported a case where a man working at the Nanhua Wholesale Seafood Market had caught the illness first and his wife became infected despite having no direct exposure to the market. As mentioned above, several other infected patients have denied they had any exposure to the market.

That said, Chuang Shuk-Kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Department at Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, said at a press conference on Wednesday that the risk of sustained transmission between humans is low, given that no medical workers have been infected so far.

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