China pneumonia outbreak emanating from a single seafood market claims WHO report

The recent pneumonia outbreak in China that has killed one person and infected 40 others appears to be linked to a single seafood market in the central city of Wuhan according to a report by the World Health Organisation. According to the report the pneumonia outbreak has not spread beyond the central seafood market.

Infection from a single seafood market

The initial infections had caused a panic regarding fears of a potential epidemic in China. The virus causing the disease was previously unknown but was later revealed to be a member of the same family of viruses that caused the SARS and MERS epidemics. Despite the fears of the infection spreading, WHO has reported that the virus has not spread and seems to be contained within the seafood market in Wuhan which is a major domestic and international transport hub.

According to the WHO report, all evidence suggests that the infection spread through the interaction with one particular seafood market located in Wuhan. Additionally, WHO also added that none of the health workers has shown signs of infection and therefore there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted from one person to another. 717 individuals that were in close contact with infected individuals are still under close observation claims the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.

WHO also said in a statement that the new virus causing the infection was a member of the ‘coronavirus’ family of viruses, other members of this family have been the cause of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks. The patient, a 61-year-old man who already had serious prior medical conditions died from the virus last week. Seven others are said to be in critical condition.

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South Korea recently put a 36-year-old Chinese woman under isolated treatment amid concerns that she brought back a form of viral pneumonia that has sickened dozens in mainland China and Hong Kong in recent weeks. The Korea Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that the woman, who was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday following two business trips to China last month, represented the country’s first possible case of the respiratory illness whose cause remains unknown.

The unidentified woman, who works for a South Korean company near capital Seoul, has experienced cough and fever since returning from a five-day trip to the Chinese city of Xiamen on Dec. 30, the KCDC said in a press release.

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Read: South Korea Reports 1st Possible Case Of Viral Pneumonia