China Fears Possible Breakout of SARS-like Epidemic

Although there is still no reported death, Chinese health authorities already have moved to a "serious response" level after the mysterious pneumonia virus has infected at least 44 people in Wuhan, an inland city west of Shanghai.

This outbreak has sparked fears that the deadly SARS virus has re-emerged. In 2003, the virus, which stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome, has killed around 700 people from many parts of China and its neighboring countries.

However, the health experts in Wuhan said that this is not SARS -- not even Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) or bird flu -- but a strain of pneumonia virus that was never seen before.

A new virus?

Authorities believed that the infection started during the mid-December at a seafood market in Wuhan. The market has been shut down temporarily since the first day of the year.

It is still unknown how it was transferred to humans, but some speculated that it might come from live animals like birds and snakes that were also available there.

According to Professor David Hui Shu-Cheong, a respiratory expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, it is possible since some earlier pathogens also came from animals. For instance, SARS came from civet cat, while dromedary camels were considered as the source of MERS.

However, Hui also said that the possibility of human-to-human transmission is still a possibility since most respiratory viruses worked that way.

The Nationwide Hysteria

This news sparked fear for nationwide (and possibly overseas) epidemic since it came just in time when Lunar New Year is coming -- on January 25. It was during this time when people are traveling from one place to another to attend family reunions or go on vacation overseas.

Virologist Leo Poon from Hong Kong University said that the severity of the situation will depend on whether new pneumonia can really be transmitted among humans. Otherwise, the infection rate will be low since the market where the virus first spread is currently being sanitized.

Currently, there was still no evidence to prove that it can be transferred through human contact, according to health authorities. None of the health care workers has been infected. But to be safe, around 160 people who have close contact with the infected patient were guaranteed.

Asian countries are not taking the risk.

Multiple Asian nations have put up preventive measures to mitigate the risk of suffering from the outbreak.

The Singaporean Ministry of Health imposed a policy that requires people coming from Wuhan City to go through temperature screening at the airport.

In South Korea, visitors from Wuhan were barred from touching wild animals or poultry and from visiting the local market. Quarantine task forces were also set up.

In Taiwan, doctors will be administering screening for 26 viruses, including SARS and MERS, on suspected cases, rather than just checking their temperature and the place where the passenger came from.

Yang Ching-hui, division chief of the Taiwanese counterpart of CDC, explained that this is necessary since not everyone infected will immediately show the symptoms of pneumonia.