Beijing to the north, Shanghai to the east and Shenzhen to the south: the mysterious disease from central China has spread to the giant metropolises of the most populous country in the world and a Chinese expert confirmed on Monday that it was transmitted between humans . The latest report shows 218 cases in China, including three fatal.
More than a month after its appearance on a market in Wuhan (center), a virus belonging to the SARS family (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), is now affecting three other countries in Asia: Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
The past of SARS in 2002-2003
Zhong Nanshan, a renowned Chinese scientist with the National Health Commission, told state television CCTV that contagious transmission between people is "proven."
This expert had helped assess the scale of the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003. It had killed 774 people worldwide (including 349 in mainland China and 299 in Hong Kong) out of 8,096 cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Chinese president breaks silence
Coming out of his silence, Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded that "the spread of the epidemic be resolutely stopped", even as the country entered as every year the "greatest human migration" with the New Crusader Chinese year. The Communist leader considered it "absolutely crucial to do a good job in terms of epidemiological prevention and control".
The country counted exactly 218 cases on Monday evening, including one in its economic capital, Shanghai, one of the largest cities in the world (25 million inhabitants), in a 56-year-old woman. The virus was also detected in South Korea in a 35-year-old Chinese woman who arrived by plane from Wuhan on Sunday.
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