First Death From Pneumonia Outbreak Reported in China

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Last Saturday, China reported the first death from a virus believed to be from the same family as the SARS pathogen that killed hundreds in China and Hong Kong more than a decade ago.

A 61-year-old man died of respiratory and circulatory failure on Jan. 9, the Wuhan commission said in a statement.

The commission added that the patient died on Thursday night of severe pneumonia and was a regular visitor to Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market linked to the outbreak, also having abdominal "tumors" and chronic liver disease.

According to the Municipal Health Commission, 41 people with pneumonia-like symptoms have so far been diagnosed with the new type of coronavirus in the central Chinese city Wuhan where it was first confirmed, while 7 people infected with the virus remain in a serious condition and 6 have been discharged. The rest is now stable.

The man did not respond to treatment and died when his heart stopped.

Cases of a mystery virus -- since identified as a new strain of coronavirus -- emerged in Wuhan, where the patients had worked at a seafood market where wild animals including pheasants and snakes, as well as rabbit organs, had also been sold. With confirmed cases are workers or frequent visitors to the market, the market has been shut since Jan 1 for disinfection and investigation. This might have caused the Wuhan outbreak as officials there ruled out other coronaviruses -- including SARS and MERS-CoV -- as well as influenza, avian influenza, and adenovirus.

According to a lead scientist in the ongoing investigation of the outbreak in China, Xu Jianguo, it had been "preliminarily determined" that a new strain of coronavirus may be the culprit.

"Corona" is the Latin word for "crown." Thus, coronaviruses are a family of viruses that have spikes on their surface that make them look like little crowns.

After the scientists released the genetic sequence of the virus, the step was hailed by experts and global health leaders as vital for learning more about the virus and for identifying cases of pneumonia it is causing as opposed to other viruses.

According to the World Health Organization, the main symptom has been fever with some cases of having trouble breathing.

Since December 12, the mystery pneumonia cases have started popping up in Wuhan.

Two patients have been discharged from hospital, while 739 people (an increase from the previous 163) deemed to have been in close contact with the patients have been cleared. 419 of the patients involve medical staff.

Since January 3, no new cases had been detected nor any "clear evidence of human-to-human transmission," according to the commission.

Thus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an alert for "a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause" in China. They instructed Americans to "avoid animals -- alive or dead -- and animal markets, avoid contacts with sick people and wash hands often with soap and water."

This episode has caused alarm due to the specter of SARS, or Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which in 2002-2003 killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong.