China Says Mystery Viral Pneumonia Is Not The Feared SARS Virus

A viral pneumonia outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan that has affected nearly 60 people is not the deadly SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus that killed about 650 people in China and Hong Kong in 2003.

The Wuhan health commission claimed on Sunday, "We have excluded several hypotheses, in particular the fact that it is a flu, an avian flu, an adenovirus, respiratory syndrome severe acute (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).”

The commission reported that seven of the 59 people affected were seriously ill, but no fatalities had occurred. The patients are being quarantined while undergoing treatment.

The viral infection is thought to have originated between Dec. 12 and 29. Some victims were employees of a seafood market in the city of 11 million people. The market has since been closed for disinfection. Some social media users speculated that the SARS virus had returned which led to eight people being punished by the Wuhan Police for "publishing or forwarding false information on the internet without verification".

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the SARS virus originated in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. The virus may have come from bats to small animals and then spread to people. It affected more than 8,000 people globally. It spreads via sneezing or other close contact with an infected person and the virus can live for several hours on the hands and on surfaces.

Unlike the well-known “normal” pneumonia virus, the deadly SARS virus is “atypical” that results in pneumonia-like symptoms but on a harsher scale. It is relative to the common cold virus. Unchecked, it might cause a large global epidemic, but modern disease control methods and basic hygiene practices have prevented that.

The 2003 outbreak was undoubtably made worse due to China under-reporting the number of cases. On April 19, 2003 they reported 37 cases but two days later over 400 new cases were reported, and the virus had spread to other areas of the Communist country. WHO announced that China was free of SARS in May 2004.

WHO commented Sunday on the connection between the new outbreak and the Wuhan seafood market, “The reported link to a wholesale fish and live animal market could indicate an exposure link to animals.”

It added, "The symptoms reported among the patients are common to several respiratory diseases, and pneumonia is common in the winter season,” and advised that the concentration of cases should be handled "prudently".

WHO said it was against imposing any travel or trade restrictions on China.