China on Sunday said a mysterious viral pneumonia outbreak that has affected 59 people was not the flu-like virus SARS that killed hundreds more than a decade ago.

The infection was first reported last week in Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million — leading to online speculation about a resurgence of the highly contagious SARS virus.

"We have excluded several hypotheses, in particular the fact that it is a flu, an avian flu, an adenovirus, respiratory syndrome severe acute (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)," the Wuhan health commission said.

Wuhan police on Wednesday said they had punished eight people for "publishing or forwarding false information on the internet without verification."

The health commission said that seven of the 59 patients are seriously ill but that none have died. All are being treated in quarantine.

The infection broke out between 12 and 29 December, with some of the patients employed at a seafood market in the city that has since been closed for disinfection.

No obvious evidence of human-to-human transmission has been found so far, it added.

"The reported link to a wholesale fish and live animal market could indicate an exposure link to animals," the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Sunday.

The symptoms reported in patients were mainly fever, with a few patients having difficulty in breathing and chest radiographs showing invasive lesions on both lungs.

"The symptoms reported among the patients are common to several respiratory diseases, and pneumonia is common in the winter season," said the WHO, adding that the concentration of cases should be handled "prudently".

It said it was against imposing any travel or trade restrictions on China.

SARS killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong in 2003.

The virus, which infected more than 8,000 people around the world, is believed to have originated in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, according to WHO.

WHO criticised China for under-reporting the number of cases following the outbreak.

China sacked its then health minister Zhang Wenkang for the poor handling of the crisis, several months after the first case was reported.

WHO announced that China was free of SARS in May 2004.

Hong Kong steps up response to China pneumonia outbreak
Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 4, 2020 –

Hospital officials in Hong Kong raised their alert level to "serious" on Saturday as a mystery viral pneumonia outbreak in mainland China continued to spread.

The infection was first reported on December 24 in Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million — leading to online speculation about a resurgence of the flu-like SARS virus that killed hundreds of people in 2002-2003.

The number of reported cases has now risen from 27 to 44, with 11 people listed in serious condition, according to China's public health watchdog.

The outbreak sparked fears in Hong Kong when a woman who travelled to Wuhan during the Christmas holiday was admitted to hospital on Thursday for treatment of respiratory infections.

By mid-day Saturday, Hong Kong's Hospital Authority had reported a total of eight cases to the city's health department.

Three are being treated under isolation conditions in a public hospital, while the other five have been discharged.

Officials in the international financial hub also implemented enhanced monitoring and infection control in public hospitals and clinics.

In mainland China, authorities reported that the major cluster of recent infections have centered around a wet market in Wuhan where wild animals were sold.

They were still in the process of identifying the cause, but have determined that common respiratory diseases such as influenza, bird flu and adenovirus infection are not to blame.

So far, Chinese officials say there has been no human-to-human transmission, but Ho Pak-leung, director of the University of Hong Kong's Centre for Infection, advised the city to brace for that possibility.

"Preventive measures should be as stringent as possible," Ho told Hong Kong's public broadcaster RTHK, urging the mainland government to provide real-time updates.

Additional thermal imaging systems were put in place on Friday at Hong Kong's international airport to check the body temperature of travellers arriving from Wuhan.

In Singapore, the health ministry also announced Friday that all travellers arriving from Wuhan would be subject to temperature checks.

In 2002-2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome killed hundreds of people around the world, with most of the fatalities registered in China and Hong Kong.