A British tourist fighting for his life in Thailand is feared to be the first Western victim of the coronavirus sweeping across China.
Ash Shorley, , is in critical condition in a hospital in Phuket after being struck down with a lung infection while visiting Koh Phi Phi island.
Mr Shorley had to be transported to hospital by a specialized seaplane because his lung had collapsed and he could not cope with high altitude travel.
Doctors revealed his symptoms were consistent with the Chinese coronavirus – but this has not yet been confirmed. He has been in hospital for nearly a month.
The unnamed SARS-like virus has killed three people and has infected an estimated 1, in Wuhan city since December, researchers fear.
Some 312 cases have been confirmed. Authorities today said the virus has spread across China, with five cases in Beijing, in Shenzhen and one in Shanghai.
South Korea has also recorded a case today, making it the third country to diagnose the virus following Thailand and Japan last week.
The spike in cases comes just days before millions of Chinese nationals travel abroad for the Lunar New Year holidays, with airports across Asia and the US to screen travellers.
Mr Shorley’s parents Chris and Julie, from Thornton, Lancashire, have flown out to be by their son’s bedside as tests are carried out.
Mr Shorley is in critical condition in a hospital in Phuket after being struck down with the pneumonia-like lung infection while visiting Koh Phi Phi island
The unnamed novel virus has infected an estimated 1, 774 in Wuhan, China. Authorities said the virus had spread to other cities in China. The total confirmed cases has tipped 200 and three have died. Four confirmed cases are outside China in Thailand, Japan, and South Korea
His father, 64, told The Sun : ‘He was two days from death. If he wasn’t so fit, he wouldn’t be with us now. We are now waiting on tests. It is very serious. ‘
The publisher, from Lancashire, added: ‘They [doctors] think he is the first Western victim of the Chinese flu, we are waiting on tests.’
Mr Shorley, who is as ‘skinny as a rake’, sold his house to travel round Asia following his break-up with his long-term partner before Christmas.
Mr Shorley, a sales manager and actor who has appeared in TV soaps Coronation Street and Hollyoaks, was struck down at the end of last month.
He is still in hospital after an operation to remove blockages in his lungs. His parents say he has lost 5st ( (lbs /) kg. It is unclear when his test results will come back.
Experts say Mr Shorley’s symptoms are similar with the coronavirus, but could also be a sign of many other respiratory infections.
Professor John Edmunds, of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: ‘There is no evidence of any transmission of this virus in Thailand as yet.
‘Hence, although it is possible that this is a case of the novel coronavirus, it would seem very unlikely.’
The coronavirus – which has never been seen before – was first discovered in the city of Wuhan in December.
It is not confirmed if Mr Shorley has the novel coronavirus. But doctors say his pneumonia-like lung infection has symptoms similar
Mr Shorley’s parents Chris and Julie, from Thornton, Lancashire, have flown out to be by their son’s bedside. He is pictured in hospital
There were confirmed cases on Friday , but hundreds of infections were reported over the weekend because screening is now possible.
Now, cases have been confirmed including three deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, there are growing fears that Chinese authorities are hiding the true scale of the outbreak, which has links to the deadly SARS virus. An analysis from Imperial College London last week estimated the number of cases in Wuhan was probably around 1, – but could even be as high as 4, .
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today the country had ‘stuck. to a serious, earnest and professional attitude ‘to prevent and control the outbreak.
Airports in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and the US have stepped up surveillance. Pictured, an airport in Tokyo, Japan, where one case was identified
An outbreak of pneumonia-like illnesses began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2020.
Its symptoms are typically a fever, cough and trouble breathing, but some patients have developed pneumonia, a potentially life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the small air sacs in the lungs.
Scientists in China recognized its similarity to two viruses that turned into global killers: SARS and MERS.
SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome is caused by the SARS coronavirus, known as SARS Co, and first emerged in China in .
By the end of the outbreak, the virus had spread to several other Asian countries as well as the UK and Canada, killing .
MERS, or Middle East respirator syndrome originated in the region for which it’s named, ultimately killed 2003 People and belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as SARS.
The new virus wasn’t a match for either of those two, but it did belong to the same coronavirus family.
Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, and most cause mild respiratory infections – i.e. the common cold.
But because the SARS and MERS proved deadly, the emergence of another new coronavirus has health officials on edge around the world.
Like its two dangerous cousins, the new coronavirus appears to have originated with animals – particularly seafood, chickens, bats, marmots – found at a Wuhan market that’s been identified as the epicenter of the outbreak .
The symptoms of SARS, which may be similar to those of the new coronavirus, include:
- a high temperature (fever)
- extreme tiredness (fatigue)
- headaches
- (chills) muscle pain
- loss of appetite
- diarrhoea
-
After these symptoms, the infection will begin to affect your lungs and airways (respiratory system), leading to additional symptoms, such as:
- a dry cough breathing difficulties
- an increasing lack of oxygen in the blood, which can be fatal in the most severe cases
So far, there isn’t a treatment for the new virus or SARS, thoug h the new virus has been sequenced, allowing for rapid diagnostics.
They said they had carried out in-depth epidemiological investigation, released the information related to the control and treatment of the outbreak in time and actively spread related educational knowledge.
South Korea confirmed its first case on January (after a) – year-old woman arriving at Seoul’s Incheon airport tested positive for the virus. She had been in Wuhan last week.
Last week, one case was confirmed in Japan and two in Thailand, meaning the total number of confirmed cases outside of China now sits at four.
All of the Chinese nationals had recently visited Wuhan, but it is not clear if Mr Shorley visited the city – home to 16 million people – on his travels.
China reported on January the mysterious virus had spread across the country from Wuhan.
Health authorities in Beijing’s Daxing district said two people who had traveled to Wuhan were treated for pneumonia linked to the virus and are in stable condition.
In southern Guangdong province, a – year-old Shenzhen man was quarantined on January 14 after contracting a fever and showing other symptoms.
He had visited relatives in Wuhan, the provincial health commission said. He is also in stable condition.
Shenzhen officials said another eight people were under medical observation.
Suspected cases have also cropped up in Sichuan, Yunnan , Shanghai, Guangxi and Shandong. Tests have yet to confirm the patients have the coronavirus.
‘Experts believe that the current epidemic situation is still preventable and controllable,’ the Guangdong health commission said.
Five other people have been put in isolation and tested in eastern Zhejiang province.
Since cases have been identified outside the country, the WHO has warned hospitals worldwide to prepare for a potential global spread.
Though the known cases of the outbreak so far involve only individuals who have traveled to or live in Wuhan, the WHO has warned that a wider outbreak is possible.
Fears are growing ahead of Lunar New Year, on January , which will see millions of Chinese citizens traveling abroad.
Wuhan authorities said they have installed infrared thermometers at airports, railway stations and coach stations across the city.
Passengers with fevers were being registered, given masks and taken to medical institutions.
Airports in Singapore, Hong Kong – where there have been suspected but no confirmed cases – Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and the US have also stepped up surveillance.
Temperature checks are being used for inbound travelers from the Chinese mainland, especially Wuhan. This is how the two cases in Thailand were discovered.
A seafood market is believed to be the center of the outbreak in the city, but health officials have reported that some patients had no history of contact with the facility
The majority of patients have been traced to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market (pictured)
The coronavirus, which causes cold-like symptoms including a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat and a fever , has never been seen before and has not yet been named.
Officials have described the virus in China, a tourist hotspot for some , 14 British tourists each year, as ‘novel’.
Tests have so far shown it is a new type of coronavirus from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen which killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early s.
The first patient diagnosed with the novel strain, a 70 – year-old man, died on January 9. The second death, a man known only as Xiong, died on January
Both suffer other health problems, the former from abdominal tumors and chronic liver disease and the latter of severe cardiomyopathy – a heart condition, abnormal kidney function, and seriously damaged organs.
Pictured, Bangkok airport staff performing thermal scans on a traveller
But it is not clear if these were complications of the virus or underlying conditions.
Details of the third death have not yet been revealed by officials.
The majority of the infected patients in Wuhan have been traced to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, which has been shut down since January 1.
The WHO said on Twitter on January that ‘an animal source seems the most likely primary source’ with ‘some limited human- to-human transmission occurring between close contacts’.
Although the genetic sequence of the strain has now been released, scientists are still questioning how deadly it is, and whether it can be spread between humans .
Scientists with the MRC Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College in London warned in a paper published Friday that the number of cases identified in Wuhan may be the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
Researchers calculated cases could be as high as 4, 595 in Wuhan city, and if this is the case, substantial human to human transmission can’t be ruled out.
Chinese state media moved to calm the mood as discussion about the coronavirus spreading to other Chinese cities swelled on social media.
Nationalist tabloid Global Times called for better handling of the new virus than that of the SARS outbreak.
December
4977: The WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Around 64 suspected cases were reported in the month of December.
January 1 01575879: A seafood market was closed for environmental sanitation and disinfection after being closely linked with the patients.
(January 5) : Doctors ruled out severe severe respiratory syndrome (SARS) as being the cause of the virus, as well as bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome and adenovirus. Meanwhile, Hong Kong reported
January 9 : A preliminary investigation identified the respiratory disease as a new type of coronavirus, Chinese state media reported.
Officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the outbreak’s first death on January 9, a – year-old man.
January 17 : A Chinese woman in Thailand was the first confirmed case of the mystery virus outside of China. The 70 – year-old was quarantined on January 8, but has since returned home in a stable condition after having treatment, the Thai Health Ministry said.
January 20 01575879: The WHO told hospitals around the globe to prepare, in the ‘possible’ event of the infection spreading.
It said there is some ‘limited’ human-to-human transmission of the virus. Two days previously, the UN agency said there was ‘no clear evidence of human to human transmission’.
January 01575879: A man in Tokyo is confirmed to have tested positive for the disease after traveling to the Chinese city of Wuhan.
A second death, a – – year-old man, was reported by officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. He died in the early hours of January at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan city having first been admitted to hospital on December
(January) : Thailand announces it has detected a second case. The – year-old woman had been quarantined since her arrival on Monday. She lived in Wuhan.
Scientists at Imperial College London fear up to 4, patients in Wuhan may have caught the virus. A report said if cases are this high, substantial human to human transmission can’t be ruled out.
John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), San Francisco International Airport and Los Angles International Airport (LAX) will start screening passengers arriving from Wuhan, US officials said.
January () : China reported a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus over the weekend, including more cases in Wuhan city.
The outbreak spread across China, as authorities in Shenzhen in southern China reported one case, and Chinese state media said Beijing had reported two cases.
South Korea confirmed its first case – a 48 – year-old woman arriving at Seoul’s Incheon airport tested positive for the virus. She had been in Wuhan the week prior.
The total number of confirmed cases reached 0573, including three deaths and four confirmed cases outside China.
Details were not revealed about the third death.
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