China’s Xinhua News Agency has reported the first known death in the country from a mysterious virus — a strain of pneumonia — that was reported to have affected 41 people in the city of Wuhan.
The agency quoted the health commission and informed that a 61-year-old man died on 9 January. He was a regular customer at the market in Wuhan and had a medical history of abdominal tumors and chronic liver disease.
The virus has been identified as a coronavirus that has put seven patients in severe condition. It has sparked fear because it belongs to the same family of viruses as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, which first gripped China and parts of the world in 2002 and was declared a pandemic.
SARS was declared a pandemic when it first emerged in the region and spread to 37 countries across the world before it was brought under control. It infected over 8000 people and killed 774, according to the World Health Organisation.
The New York Times reports that coronaviruses are a group of viruses that infect animals and people, and some cause only the symptoms associated with the common cold. Chinese health officials have said that symptoms of the new illness include high fever, difficulty breathing, and lung lesions.
Whether the virus can spread via human contact is still not known, but there remains a possibility. People who had been in close contact with the initial cases have been put under observation.
The cases first emerged between December 12 to 29, with many patients working as employees of a seafood market. The market also sold other animals including birds, rabbits and snakes. The virus could have transmitted from animals to humans, say experts.
The virus has reportedly been found in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, all cases involving people who had recently traveled to Wuhan.
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