The U.S. Embassy in China on Tuesday issued a warning to travelers to avoid animals, animal markets and products and sick individuals as a mysterious pneumonia outbreak has sent 59 people to the hospital in Wuhan.
The respiratory illness, whose cause is still unknown, will be added to an official list of diseases that medical professionals are required to report to the government, Hong Kong’s health chief also announced Tuesday.
Seven ill patients are in critical condition while the others were stable in the mainland Chinese city of Wuhan as of Sunday.
In Hong Kong, 30 patients as of Tuesday were under “enhanced surveillance” by the health department after recent travels to Wuhan, but is it unclear if they have the same mystery illness circulating in China.
The mysterious illness will be labeled as the “severe respiratory disease associated with a novel infectious agent” and added to the list of reportable infectious diseases in Hong Kong’s Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, the Associated Press reported.
The amendment to the list allows the government to take stronger actions against the spread of diseases such as enforcing quarantines.
Health officials in China have ruled out the highly contagious SARS virus, a respiratory illness that killed hundreds of people back in 2002 and 2003. They have also ruled out seasonal flu, avian flu, adenovirus and Middle East respiratory syndrome.
Chinese health authorities are monitoring more than 150 close contacts for illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been no reports of spread to health care workers or between persons so far.
Given the Chinese holiday season, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control issued a notice on Monday about the pneumonia cases and urged travelers to wear face masks and consume only thoroughly cooked poultry and eggs.
The pneumonia cases have been linked to the Wuhan South China Seafood City, also called the Hua Nan Seafood Market. The market closed Jan. 1 for cleaning and disinfection.
The CDC recommends that individuals who traveled to Wuhan and feel sick should stay home, avoid travel while sick, seek medical attention immediately and cover their mouths and noses with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
*This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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