Health officials around the world are keeping a close watch on an outbreak of a new virus that originated in China. In response, governments are stepping up surveillance of airline passengers arriving from central China and taking steps to try to control the outbreak.
In the Philippines, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday reported that the five-year-old boy from China tested positive for a non-specific pancoronavirus has recovered from flu-like symptoms.
“The child is well now. He has some cough but has no more fever. So, there’s a possibility that this may not be a novel coronavirus case,” Duque said in a media forum in Manila, adding that the boy remains in isolation in a medical facility in Cebu City.
Duque also reported that the DOH’s Bureau of Quarantine already placed additional thermal scanners at the airports to identify immediately possible carriers of the virus.
Citing the upcoming Chinese New Year, Duque said the Department of Health can provide more thermal scanners if the need arises since procurement for the new machines was already made.
Here’s what scientists say about the illnesses:
What is the disease?
Scientists have identified it as a new kind of coronavirus. There are many known types of coronaviruses. Some cause the common cold. Others found in bats, camels and other animals have evolved into more severe illnesses such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) or MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome).
Why is it called a coronavirus?
Corona comes from Latin and refers to crowns or halos. Under a microscope, these viruses resemble crowns or halos.
When and where was the new virus found?
The outbreak started late last month in the city of Wuhan, a city in central China’s Hubei province, apparently at a food market.
Many of the first people infected had visited or worked at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, which has since been closed for an investigation.
Chinese health officials say they believe the illness first spread from animals to people. They now say it can spread between people.
How many people have it and how widespread is it?
China has identified 500 cases and 17 deaths, as of Thursday, most of the illnesses and all of the deaths were in Hubei province.
Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Taiwan. The outbreak coincides with China’s busiest travel season as people visit their families or go abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday. That travel rush is expected to spread the disease more widely.
What are the symptoms?
Common symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever. Shortness of breath, chills and body aches are associated with more dangerous kinds of coronavirus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In serious cases, the virus can cause pneumonia.
How is it treated?
There is a test to identify the virus, but no vaccine to prevent an infection.
Patients with the virus have been isolated in hospitals or homes to prevent spreading it.
The symptoms are treated with pain and fever medication, and people are advised to drink plenty of liquids and rest while they recover.
How are coronaviruses spread?
Many coronaviruses can spread through coughing or sneezing, or by touching an infected person.
Initially, authorities in China said there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission in the present outbreak.
Scientists believe the new virus can spread from person to person in close contact through the respiratory tract, raising the possibility it could spread more widely.
Could it be as bad as SARS?
So far, the virus appears less dangerous and infectious than SARS, which also started in China and killed about 800 people.
However, viruses can mutate into more dangerous and contagious forms, and it’s too early to say what will happen with this one.
History of infectious disease outbreak
The history of infectious disease outbreak is not new. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic infected about 500 million people globally (a third of world’s population then) and caused the death of 20 million to 50 million victims.
The 2014 -2015 Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone infected 28,000 and killed over 11,000. By the end of the West Africa Ebola outbreak, the three nations lost a combined GDP of $2.8 billion.
Infectious diseases continue to be a huge problem. Recently, Ebola and measles outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo have killed 2,236 and over 6,000 respectively.
The ease of travel in today’s global community means the world must always be prepared for disease outbreaks. It is no longer whether an infectious disease outbreak would happen but when.
Globally, 100,000 aircraft carry millions of passengers from one city to the other daily. A visit to flightradar24.com puts this in perspective and shows how interconnected countries are. AP, PNA and IPS
Image credits: Chinatopix via AP