China investigates mysterious pneumonia virus, rules out SARS

By Muizat Hameed

An investigation has been launched by the Chinese authorities to find out and streamline the causes of the new pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China.

From the first reported case till now, a total of 59 cases had occurred with 7 of the cases regarded as severe.

This has prompted the neighboring cities; Singapore and Hong Kong to initiate their screening processes for travelers from Wuhan.

There are rumors stating that the virus may be linked to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which was reported to have killed more than 700 people around the world between the years 2002 and 2003, after originating from China.

The Wuhan health commission had however started the investigation on Friday and released a statement today that the investigation had already ruled out a number of infections – including influenza, avian influenza, SARS and some other common respiratory diseases.

The statement added that, there had been no human – to – human transmission, however, a number of the infected persons worked at a seafood market in the city.

This had prompted the authorities to clean the area from likely causative virus and placed everyone who had contact with the infected people under medical observation; while efforts are still on to identify the virus and its source.

World Health Organization has also released a statement that they are duly notified of the outbreak and will be in contact with the Chinese government.

In his words, WHO spokesman said, “There are many potential causes of viral pneumonia, many of which are more common than severe acute respiratory syndrome coronovirus… WHO is closely monitoring this event and will share more details as we have them.”