A DEADLY mystery virus which has killed one person in China has spread to Japan as the World Health Organisation warned it could sweep globe.
The health ministry in Japan confirmed its first case of the disease after a man in his 30s tested positive for the new China coronavirus.
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It’s understood that the man had been to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where there has been an outbreak of pneumonia, believed to be caused by the new strain.
He developed a fever and a cough on January 3 before returning to his home near Tokyo on January 6.
His symptoms continued to persist and four days later he was taken to hospital where an X-ray revealed signs of pneumonia.
Tests conducted Tuesday found the same coronavirus as had been detected in other patients in the Wuhan outbreak, the ministry said.
He has since been released from hospital and his condition is said to have improved.
Epidemic fears
It comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the new virus could spread and has warned hospitals worldwide.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause infections ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Some of the virus types cause less serious disease, while some – like the one that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) – are far more severe.
WHAT IS CORONAVIRUS?
Coronavirus is an airborne virus, spread in a similar way to colds and the flu.
The virus attacks the respiratory system, causing lung lesions.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever, shortness of breath, chills and body aches.
It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.
In 2003 an outbreak of a similar virus, SARS, killed more than 900 around the world within weeks.
The virus may have already spread to Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
German researchers today said they have developed the first diagnostic test for the new virus, which was first detected last year.
Dozens of people in China have been sickened by it and one person with severe underlying conditions has died.
Dr Christian Drosten, the director of the Institute for Virology at Berlin’s Charite hospital, said the test developed by his team will allow labs to reliably diagnose the so-called novel coronavirus “in a very short period of time”.
Test hopes
The test protocol is being made available through the WHO, and laboratories can order a molecule from the German team to compare patient samples with a positive control, he said.
Dr Drosten said: “We have just started receiving orders and are now starting to post the molecule.
“So far, doctors have only been able to perform a general virus test and then had to sequence and interpret the genome.
“Large, well-equipped public laboratories are able to do this but smaller labs would struggle to do so.
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“We’re more concerned about labs in countries where its not that easy to transport samples or staff arentt trained that thoroughly.
“Or if there is a large number of patients who have to be tested,” he said, citing the epidemic of SARS, which killed hundreds in 2002 and 2003.
Dr Drosten, who was one of the co-discoverers of SARS, said the two viruses are so closely related that laboratories which have control samples for SARS in stock can use it to diagnose the new virus, cutting the time required to create a functioning test.
First known death
Officials in Wuhan said last weekend 41 people had pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus and a 61-year-old man had died China’s first known death from the virus.
The WHO also has said it was consulting with Thai and Chinese health authorities after a case was reported in Thailand of a Chinese traveller.
Eiji Hinoshita, an official at the ministry’s infectious disease section, said that the man told officials he did not go to the fish market in Wuhan linked to the pneumonia outbreak, but had close contact with at least one person with pneumonia symptoms at a place where he stayed during the visit.
WHAT IS SARS?
SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is an airborne virus, spread in a similar way to colds and the flu.
If someone breathes small droplets of saliva from a cough or sneeze, they can become infected.
In 2003 an outbreak of Sars killed more than 900 around the world within weeks.
It began in Hong Kong and spread to almost 40 countries, infecting 8,500 people
The infection killed 775 people, which means the virus killed 1 in 10 of those who were infected.
Since 2004, there have not been any known cases of SARS reported anywhere in the world.
Ministry officials are checking further the patient’s activity and people he had contact in China and in Japan since his return, he said.
It comes just ahead of the lunar new year when many Chinese tourists are expected to travel.
The ministry is urging those visiting or returning from Wuhan to wear masks and promptly go to medical institutions if they have cough and fever.
But officials said the virus is not considered highly contagious and just passing by or talking to patients would not be a concern.
China has sought to play down speculation that it could be a reappearance of the SARS epidemic.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause the common cold.
Others found in bats, camels and other animals have evolved to cause more severe illnesses.
Common symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever.
Shortness of breath, chills and body aches are associated with more dangerous kinds of coronaviruses, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
