Are you at risk of this unidentified disease?
An unidentified viral illness has ripped through China is not SARS, says the Chinese government, which is keeping tight-lipped about the epidemic.
According to LiveScience, so far, 59 people in Wuhan have been diagnosed with the unidentified disease, presenting with symptoms of fever, body aches, breathing difficulties and lung injury. The total number of infected people is up from the 44 cases reported last week.
The illness has been suspected of being everything from an unknown form of pneumonia to a second SARS outbreak. However, local health officials have officially crossed SARS off the list of potential culprits, says The New York Times, and local officials have also confirmed it is not Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bird flu or an adenovirus.
Authorities are concerned that China's inability to identify the virus could put other countries at risk. The Hong Kong health department said that 21 people who recently visited China have been hospitalised exhibiting symptoms of the mystery illness. Health authorities in Singapore are also on the lookout for infected travellers and recently quarantined a young girl after her trip to Wuhan.
"I have to emphasize this is a new disease, and no one on earth has gone through this before," said Hong Kong public health expert Leo Poon. "I hope this pathogen is a less harmful one so it would not cause a major epidemic similar to SARS. It would be a nightmare for all of us."
Race is on as Australian researchers rush to make coronavirus vaccine.
Researchers from the university have been funded by an international organisation to use new rapid medical development technology to help create a vaccine for the new virus strain.
The University of Queensland (UQ) is confident it can develop a vaccine for the potentially deadly coronavirus in as few as 16 weeks.
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected to have the new coronavirus at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong.
Sincerely hope the researchers succeed.
New cases of the Wuhan coronavirus have been reported across the world, as China moved overnight to lock down multiple cities with a combined population of more than 18 million. There are now nearly 650 cases of novel coronavirus reported globally with 18 confirmed deaths, all bar one in the Hubei province of China.
With all the dangerous chemicals that China use, it could be toxic overload. And of course they would cover up a chemical spill or contamination of some sort.