Local authorities: Mysterious illness in China is not SARS
Source: AP
By YANAN WANG
BEIJING (AP) — The mysterious respiratory illness that has infected dozens of people in a central Chinese city is not SARS, local authorities said Sunday.
The 2002-2003 SARS epidemic started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Fears of a SARS recurrence arose this month after a slate of patients were hospitalized with an unexplained viral pneumonia in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.
As of Sunday, 59 people were diagnosed with the condition and have been isolated while they receive treatment, according to the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. Seven were in critical condition, while the rest were stable.
The commission said in a statement that initial investigations have ruled out SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — as well as Middle East respiratory syndrome, influenza, bird flu and adenovirus.
Health surveillance officer use device to check temperature of passengers before the immigration counters at International airport in Hong Kong, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Hong Kong authorities activated a newly created "serious response" level Saturday as fears spread about a mysterious infectious disease that may have been brought back by visitors to a mainland Chinese city. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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