A second person has died from a new SARS-like virus in China
A second person has died in China from a new virus that has infected dozens of people and put the rest of Asia on alert, Chinese health officials said Thursday.
A 69-year-old man identified only by his surname, Xiong, died on Wednesday in the central city of Wuhan in Hebei province, which is where the pneumonia-like outbreak originated, local health officials said in a statement.
His death follows that of a 61-year-old man in the same city on January 9, who died after respiratory failure caused by severe pneumonia.
Chinese scientists identified the illness as a new strain of coronavirus, which is in the same family as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Symptoms of coronaviruses can range from fever and coughing to kidney failure, and in some cases lead to death.
But the new coronavirus in Wuhan appears to not be as lethal as MERS, or SARS, which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic that ripped through Asia in 2002 and 2003.
Currently, 41 cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Wuhan, central China's largest city. Five of those patients are in serious condition while 12 have been discharged after treatment, local health authorities said. Other patients are stable and under treatment.
In total, 763 people who had close contact with the infected patients have been traced. Of those, 644 people have been discharged and 119 are still under medical observation, but no infected cases have been found among them, according to health officials.
The man who died on Wednesday fell ill on December 31 and was admitted to Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital five days later, where his condition worsened.
Health officials said he suffered from abnormal renal function, inflammation of the heart muscle and severe damage to multiple organ functions. Scans also showed lung damage with possible tuberculosis.
The outbreak has cast a shadow over celebrations for Lunar New Year, which falls on January 25, and put the rest of Asia on edge. Hundreds of millions of people in China are expected to travel over the course of the new year period, both within the country and overseas.
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