HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The true scale of the outbreak of a mysterious SARS-like virus in China is likely far bigger than officially reported, scientists have warned, as countries ramp up measures to prevent the disease from spreading. Fears that the virus will spread are growing ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday when hundreds of millions of Chinese move around the country and many others host or visit extended family members living overseas. […]
Health
‘Hundreds’ likely affected by Chinese virus: researchers
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The number of people infected by a mystery SARS-like virus that has killed two people in China is likely hundreds more than officially reported, researchers have said. Chinese authorities have said pneumonia linked to the virus has hit at least 41 people in the country, with the outbreak centered around a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan. But a paper published Friday by scientists with the MRC Center […]
Thais find second case linked to China mystery virus
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand detected its second case of a mysterious SARS-linked virus in a visitor from China, health officials said Friday, as authorities ramp up airport screenings ahead of an expected surge in arrivals for Chinese New Year. The 74-year-old Chinese woman is being treated at hospital after presenting with symptoms at Thailand’s biggest airport Suvarnabhumi on January 13, according to the health ministry. She was diagnosed with pneumonia linked to the […]
Mystery China virus patients could have infected family members: officials
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A new virus from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen could have been spread between family members in the Chinese city of Wuhan, local authorities said Wednesday. The outbreak, which has killed one person, has caused alarm because of the link with SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong in 2002-2003. One of the 41 patients reported in […]
Japan reports case of mystery virus behind China outbreak
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A case of the mystery respiratory infection related to the potentially deadly SARS virus, which first emerged in China, has been confirmed in Japan, authorities said Thursday. It appears to be only the second time the novel coronavirus has been detected outside China after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed a case in Thailand. Japan’s health ministry said a man who had visited Wuhan, the apparent epicenter of the outbreak, was […]
Makeshift koala hospital scrambles to save dozens injured in bushfires
KANGAROO ISLAND, Australia (AFP) – Dozens of injured koalas arrive at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park’s makeshift animal hospital each day in cat carriers, washing baskets or clinging to wildlife carers. Injured in bushfires that have ravaged the wildlife haven off the coast of South Australia state, there are so many marsupials currently requiring urgent treatment that carers don’t have time to give them names — they are simply referred to by a number. Among […]
First case of mystery SARS-like virus found outside China
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — A new virus from the same family as the deadly SARS disease has spread beyond China’s borders for the first time with a case emerging in Thailand, UN and Thai officials said on Monday. Thai doctors diagnosed with a Chinese traveler with mild pneumonia on January 8 later confirmed to have been caused by the so-called novel coronavirus — which has already given rise to 41 pneumonia-like […]
New virus behind China’s mystery pneumonia outbreak: state media
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China believes a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that has struck 59 people is due to a new strain of virus from the family of pathogens that includes SARS, state media said Thursday. The infection was first confirmed on December 31 in Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million, and initially sparked fears about a resurgence of the highly contagious flu-like SARS. Experts have “preliminarily determined” that a […]
‘Atrocious’ child cancer ward reveals ills of Russian healthcare
by Victoria LOGUINOVA-YAKOVLEVA Agence France Presse Moscow, Russia (AFP) — Under-funding, corruption allegations, internal feuding, facilities in disrepair — flaws revealed at a Moscow pediatric cancer ward have shone a harsh spotlight on the afflictions plaguing Russia’s public healthcare system. The Blokhin cancer center, housed in a brutalist 1970s-era compound in the south of the capital, is so notorious that some have taken to calling it “Blokhinwald” after the Nazi-era Buchenwald concentration camp. “Children with cancer […]
AI beats human breast cancer diagnosis
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — A computer program can identify breast cancer from routine scans with greater accuracy than human experts, researchers said in what they hoped could prove a breakthrough in the fight against the global killer. Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, with more than two million new diagnoses last year alone. Regular screening is vital in detecting the earliest signs of the disease in patients who […]
China rules out SARS in mystery viral pneumonia outbreak
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Sunday said a mysterious viral pneumonia outbreak that has affected 59 people was not the flu-like virus SARS that killed hundreds more than a decade ago. The infection was first reported last week in Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million — leading to online speculation about a resurgence of the highly contagious SARS virus. “We have excluded several hypotheses, in particular the fact […]
China rules out SARS in mystery viral pneumonia outbreak
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Sunday said a mysterious viral pneumonia outbreak that has affected 59 people was not the flu-like virus SARS that killed hundreds more than a decade ago. The infection was first reported last week in Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million — leading to online speculation about a resurgence of the highly contagious SARS virus. “We have excluded several hypotheses, in particular, the fact […]