The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) have been excluded as possible causes of a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China, but the cause of the viral pneumonia has not yet been identified.
According to information received on Sunday night from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, 59 people have been diagnosed with the unspecified pneumonia, and seven of them had serious symptoms, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
“The commission said all cases experienced onset of symptoms between Dec. 12 and Dec. 29 last year,” he said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
“Based on the report it sent to the WHO, it suspects the source of infection to be associated with animals sold at a local market, Huanan Seafood City,” Chuang said, adding that the market has temporarily been shut down.
Whether the disease is spreading from person to person is a key point of observation, Chuang said.
The increase in the number of cases, from 44 people to 59, could have been due to more cases having been identified because of media coverage of the outbreak, he said.
The reduction in the number of serious cases, from 11 people to seven, could have been because some were later confirmed as flu or other diseases, and excluded from the outbreak, Chuang said.
The commission said that 163 people who were in direct contact with those infected have been placed under observation, he said, adding that there is no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no healthcare workers have been infected.
The commission suspects the source of infection to be from a certain animal, and many healthcare professionals suspect it to be a new type of coronavirus, Chuang said.
Inspections conducted on a total of 867 passengers and crew on 10 flights from Wuhan to Taiwan since Tuesday last week found eight people with mild respiratory symptoms, but they have either been diagnosed with the flu or a cold, or their symptoms improved after treatment, the CDC said.
Passengers from Wuhan with respiratory symptoms would be tested for 26 types of viruses associated with viral pneumonia, but if all test results are negative, next-generation sequencing would be performed to identify potential pathogens, Chuang said.
The WHO’s report on “pneumonia of unknown cause in China,” which was released on Sunday, said: “There is limited information to determine the overall risk of this reported cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology.”
It advised against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the information available at present.
The WHO recommended public health measures and surveillance of influenza and severe acute respiratory infections, and urged travelers experiencing respiratory illness either during or after travel to seek medical attention and share their travel history with their healthcare provider.
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