WORLD Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed over 200 cases of patients with a new strain of contagious coronavirus in the central city of Wuhan, unfortunately, very little is known about this virus.
Just ahead of the country’s biggest festival- Lunar New Year- health expert’s reveal that although this strain of coronavirus might not be as deadly as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome which also originated from China and led to the death of nearly 800 people worldwide between 2002 and 2003, the human-to-human transmission was a high possibility.
The authorities reported that of the 198 patients within Wuhan, three have died and 25 ‘cured’ while new cases include three patients outside of Wuhan, including two in Beijing.
Despite health experts reprieve on the cure of the 25 patients, the origin of the virus -which escalated to pneumonia in severe cases- and the ease of transmission between humans is yet to be known. Although China’s National Health Commission in a statement on Tuesday has linked the outbreak to a seafood market in the city, the source of the virus is yet to be found and its transmission path not fully mapped.
Nonetheless, the country’s’ health officials claim there is no evidence yet to show that the virus spread from one person to another, unfortunately, South Korea on Monday reported a new case of the virus involving a Chinese traveller from Wuhan. Thailand has reported two confirmed cases of the virus, both of whom were Chinese tourists from Wuhan.
Japan has also confirmed one case of a Japanese citizen who visited Wuhan.
As the Chinese holiday draws closer, 1.4 billion people are estimated to travel domestically and overseas airport authorities in the United States as well as many Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea, have stepped up screening of passengers from Wuhan.
In addition, the World Health Organization has sent directives to hospitals around the world on infection prevention and control.
In 2017 alone, a total number of 40,000 Chinese citizens—“which include Chinese expatriates and descendants born in Nigeria with Chinese ancestry” are resident in Nigeria with over 3000 workings in Nigeria.
Nigeria and the Asian country have been trading partners for years and due to its close ties see Chinese citizens enter the country every day.
There is no vaccine for the new virus yet and symptoms include fever, difficulty in breathing as well as pneumonic infiltrates in the lungs.