Second person dies from mystery virus in China
A second person has died in China from a mystery virus that has stricken dozens and appeared in two other Asian countries, officials said.
Authorities said a 69-year-old man died on Wednesday in Wuhan, the Chinese city believed to be the epicentre of an outbreak of a coronavirus from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen.
The outbreak has caused alarm because of the link with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 349 people in China and 299 in Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
At least 41 people have been hit with pneumonia linked to the new virus in China, prompting authorities in Hong Kong to step up detection measures, including temperature checkpoints for inbound travellers.
The Wuhan health commission said that 12 people had recovered and been discharged from hospital, while five others were in serious condition.
The man who died had become sick on December 31 and his condition worsened five days later, with pulmonary tuberculosis and multiple organ functions damaged.
Two other cases have been detected — in Thailand and Japan
— with health managers in both countries saying the patients had visited Wuhan before hospitalisation.
Authorities in Wuhan said a seafood market was the centre of the outbreak.
Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was closed on January 1.
No human-to-human transmission behind the Wuhan outbreak has been confirmed, but the health commission said the possibility “cannot be excluded”.
A World Health Organisation doctor has said it would not be surprising if there was limited human-to-human transmission, “especially among families who have close contact with one another”.
The Wuhan health commission said a man who had been diagnosed worked at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, but his wife had been diagnosed despite reporting “no history of exposure” at the facility.
The woman diagnosed in Thailand had not reported visiting the seafood market, the World Health Organisation said earlier this week.
She was reported to be in stable condition.
The patient in Japan, who was released from hospital, had also not visited the market.
Japanese officials said the man could have been in contact with a person infected with the virus while in Wuhan.