The deadly Wuhan coronavirus, the strange pneumonia that has already left China

• INFECTIOUS: The mysterious pneumonia that is making China nervous

In a few minutes, the video has gone viral in networks: before taking off, inside a plane that goes from the Chinese city of Wuhan to Macao, a group of men with masks, dressed in white suits for infection protection, They take the temperature to all the passengers .

There is some panic in the Asian giant. The new coronavirus that came out of a fish market in central China is spreading throughout the country. It has already reached Beijing . It has even gone outside the borders and two cases have already been detected in Thailand, one in Japan and one in South Korea. In addition, there are already three dead. The last one has just been confirmed by the Chinese authorities. And we must not forget that this outbreak coincides with some complicated dates: the parties for the Lunar New Year begin this week and it is estimated that there will be 3,000 million trips .

Fears are rising throughout Asia over cross-border propagation. The new strain belongs to the same family as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that 17 years ago left Guangdong Province and razed the continent. It spread through 37 countries leaving 774 dead and more than 8,000 infected. And, although until now it was believed that this new coronavirus was only transmitted from animals to humans, the first scientific analyzes have not yet determined whether the virus is transmitted between people. Experts agree that this possibility "cannot be excluded."

This strange outbreak of pneumonia emerged in late December at a fish market in Wuhan City. At first, the silence of the Chinese authorities reigned. And that every day new cases of contagion come out. What made the rumors about a possible resurgence of SARS resound again among the Chinese people. Wuhan Health authorities reported yesterday that there are 136 new cases that have been confirmed. In total, there are more than 200. All agree on the same symptoms: dry cough, fever, fatigue and dyspnea.

Although an independent investigation developed by the MRC Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London, which advises organizations such as the British government or the World Health Organization (WHO), suggests that the actual number of infections could amount to about 1,700.

One of the authors of the research, Neil Ferguson, a scientist specializing in epidemic outbreaks, explains that the key to the magnitude of the problem lies in the cases detected in other countries. "That Wuhan exported three cases to Thailand and Japan would imply that there would be many of those who have not been informed," argues Ferguson. "People should now consider the possibility of a substantial transmission from person to person," he says.

From WHO they ask for prudence . "There is much to understand about the new coronavirus," they said from the body through a statement. "It is not known enough to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, the clinical characteristics of the disease, the degree of spread or its origin, which remains unknown."

Although, three days ago, the case of a couple infected with the coronavirus was emerging. The husband worked in the market where the outbreak came out. Instead, the woman claimed that she had not stepped on the market. Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Department of Communicable Diseases at the Hong Kong Center for Health Protection, says it is possible that the man has transmitted the disease to his wife a few days after being infected. "The transmission from person to person cannot be ruled out," insists the expert.

Yesterday, from Beijing they broke their silence in order to "end the evil rumors" that spread in social networks. From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, they said that the new virus was not SARS and that the outbreak was "preventable and controllable . " However, they added that the source of the virus has not yet been found and its route has not yet been completely mapped. They also denied several reports that hospitals outside of Wuhan had been secretly treating people infected with the virus.

"To date, no cases have been reported in China outside of Wuhan, but we are still in the early stages of understanding this new virus, where it came from and how it affects people," they said. Instead, media such as the South China Morning Post have revealed today that for the first time there have been cases outside of Wuhan: one in the city of Shenzhen and two in Beijing. Also, in Zhejiang City, near Shanghai, there are five patients who are in quarantine, although the diagnosis has not yet been made public.

In other Asian countries they have been taking preventive measures for weeks in fear of this unknown pneumonia. At the Singapore airport, temperature controls are being made for all travelers returning from Wuhan. In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has ordered medical centers across the country to "strengthen the supervision of the spread of acute pneumonia in the face of the spread of the disease in China."

And in South Korea, the country's disease control and prevention centers established a quarantine task force and warned Wuhan visitors not to touch wild animals or poultry, or visit local markets. Although from Seoul they have reported on Monday that they have received the first case of infection: a 35-year-old woman who arrived in Incheon Airport from China on Sunday.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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