ISLAMABAD (Pakistan Point News / Online - 19th January, 2020) Global health policymakers have announced that they are investigating the emergence of a new virus one very similar to the dangerous severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus in Thailand and Japan, hinting at worries that it could spread farther.SARS is part of the coronavirus family, which encompasses a range of airborne viruses. These can cause infections of varying degrees of severity.
In the case of SARS, the first symptom is a high fever and sometimes coughing. A person with the infection usually develops pneumonia, which can become life threatening.A SARS epidemic in 2002-2003 affected people in as many as 26 countries, and most cases occurred in mainland China and Hong Kong.In mainland China, the SARS virus infected more than 5,300 people and led to the death of 349, while in Hong Kong it affected 1,750 people and resulted in the death of 286 individuals.
After 2003, the SARS virus dropped off the radar, for the most part. However, in December 2019, Chinese authorities reported the emergence of a series of new coronavirus infections.According to information available to the World Health Organization (WHO) at the start of 2020, 41 cases of the novel coronavirus had been diagnosed in Wuhan, the capital of Huabei province in central China. Of the infected individuals, seven are "severely ill," the WHO report.Chinese authorities have said that these cases appear to be connected with attendance at a seafood market in the Wuhan city center. The market has been closed since January 1, 2020.
