Another ‘Deadly Virus’ Surfaces In China, 4 Dead

A mysterious virus, similar to Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome (SARS), that gets people infected through human-to-human transmission has been discovered in China even as four persons has been confirmed dead.

Reuters reports that with millions of Asians traveling on Tuesday for the Lunar New Year holiday, authorities in China confirmed that a new virus could be spread through human contact, reporting 15 medical staff had been infected and a fourth person had died.  

Zhong Nanshan, the head of China’s national health commission (NHC) team  confirmed cases of the infection in Guangdong province.

World Health Organization (WHO), Regional Director, Takeshi Kasai, also said the “information about newly reported infections suggest there may now be sustained human to human transmission.”

Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus (virus of the genus Betacoronavirus), and is transmitted especially by contact with infectious material (such as respiratory droplets or body fluids).

NHC also disclosed that the number of confirmed cases in China had climbed to 291; and could spread.