With the recent case of the mysterious virus outbreak in Wuhan, various countries including Malaysia and Singapore have been carrying out temperature screenings at the international borders, especially on passengers who are arriving from Wuhan, China.
If you missed out this piece of alarming news, an unknown and unidentified flu-like virus is breaking out in Wuhan, China, and a total of 44 cases were reported and quarantined as of 3 January. Hong Kong microbiologist mentioned that this particular virus has a similar appearance with SARS.
Source: Straits Times (For illustration purposes only)
Yesterday (4 January), a 3-year-old girl was from China was suspected to be infected with the virus, because she had pneumonia and a travel history to Wuhan, China. This girl is currently under treatment and assessment in Singapore, and she’s currently in a stable condition.
Source: The Asian Parent (For illustration purposes only)
This finding alerted the Singaporean government, thus the Chinese girl is being isolated at the moment. Initial investigations and diagnosis showed that the girl was infected by the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which apparently, is a very common virus that leads to mild, cold-like symptoms.
Despite the initial assessment result shows no danger, observations are still in progress to further justify the cause of her pneumonia. The Ministry of Health in Singapore stated that the girl had not visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan — the market that was associated with the viral outbreak.
Source: South China Morning Post
According to The Star, most of the cases were traced to the South China Seafood City food market in Wuhan, where wild animals that carry dangerous viruses were reportedly used as offerings. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission had also announced that the aforementioned market had been disinfected.
Although the unidentified virus has been ruled out from the little girl’s initial assessment, we’re still shocked to see how close to home this case is. We hope the girl will recover ASAP and that the mysterious virus will be ruled out for good!
