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Egypt Independent
“A new virus that has killed nine people, infected hundreds and already reached the United States could mutate and spread”, China warned Wednesday. The authorities scrambled to contain the disease during the Lunar New Year travel season.
The coronavirus has caused alarm for its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
In Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, authorities cancelled large public events and urged visitors to stay away. They told residents not to leave the central Chinese city of 11 million people.
The illness is mainly transmitted via the respiratory tract. “There is the possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease”, National Health Commission vice minister Li Bin said at a news conference in Beijing.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday to determine whether to declare a rare global public health emergency over the disease. The virus has now been detected in the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Macau.
The Chinese government has classified the outbreak in the same category as the SARS epidemic. This means compulsory isolation for those diagnosed with the illness and the potential to implement quarantine measures.
Plane passengers are facing screening measures at five US airports and a host of transport hubs across Asia.
“North Korea will ban foreign tourists entirely to protect itself against the virus”, according to a major tour operator.
Virus source
A prominent expert from China’s National Health Commission confirmed this week, that “the virus can be passed between people”.
However, animals are suspected to be the primary source of the outbreak. A seafood market where live animals were sold in the Wuhan province was identified as ground zero for the virus.
“We already know that the disease originated from a market which conducted illegal transaction of wild animals,” said Gao Fu, director of the Chinese centre for disease control and prevention.
He added, “this might be the cause, so the disease could be on an animal, and then passed on from this animal to a human.”
Gao said, “it was clear this virus is adapting and mutating.”
Countries have been intensifying efforts to stop the spread of the pathogen; known by its technical name 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The number of cases jumped, raising concerns in the middle of a major Chinese holiday travel rush.
