A mysterious virus has affected more than two hundred people – some of them very serious – and the only point in common is its presence in a seafood market in Wuhan

It was on December 12, 2019, when a young man was admitted to the hospital in strange circumstances. It happened in Wuhan (China) when this man with a high fever and severe breathing problems came to the health center for treatment. Doctors soon discovered that the symptoms corresponded to those of viral pneumonia, although they were baffled by the origin of the case. Now, more than two hundred people suffer from this strange disease.

Chinese medical authorities remain baffled at the situation that is taking place in Wuhan. In just under a month, 59 people have been admitted to hospital in the city suffering from the same virus that, for now, is completely strange for specialists. Seven of them are in very serious condition, while another 163 people have slight symptoms that cause them to be under medical observation.

In fact, the virus has already reached neighbouring Hong Kong, where medical services have already diagnosed eight cases of the same disease, activating the “serious response” protocols because, in all cases, these are people who have been in Wuhan in the last month. The 67 patients – in China and Hong Kong – suffer from pneumonia or serious infections of the respiratory tract, experiencing fever and respiratory difficulties but without knowing the source of the disease.

At first, the medical authorities considered that it could be a new case of SRAG (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), a disease that also began in China in 2002 and that caused the death of 700 people worldwide. After ruling it out, they assessed other options such as bird flu, adenovirus, influenza or even MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) but in none of the cases did it fit the strain.

To try to know the origin of this disease, doctors conducted an epidemiological survey among patients, finding a single coincidence: a good part of the patients afflicted with this virus had been in the Wuhan South China Seafood City (a wholesale seafood market). The question is whether those who did not visit the area became ill from transmission between humans, from animal to human, or for other unknown reasons.

“Experts say that the city is currently in the season of the high incidence of infectious diseases. Therefore, citizens should avoid closed and airless public places, as well as crowded places, looking for situations that favor air circulation in the, In addition, masks should be worn when necessary. If you have a fever or respiratory infection symptoms, go to a medical institution on time,” Wuhan said in a statement.

As explained by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a statement, the strong link between people who have fallen ill and the Wuhan seafood market suggests that the disease is caused by a virus that spreads among animals and human. Or, what is the same, it could be a zoonotic disease that, at the moment, is not known. The medical authorities continue to investigate to solve this strange virus.