China believes a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that struck 59 people is caused by a new strain of virus from the same family as SARS, which killed hundreds of people more than a decade ago. China has since ruled out a fresh outbreak of SARS, which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong. WHO representative Galea said "people with symptoms of pneumonia and reported a travel history to Wuhan have been identified at international airports". Hong Kong, Taiwan fearsIn Hong Kong, hospitals have raised their alert level to "serious" and stepped up detection measures -- including temperature checkpoints for inbound travellers. Twenty-five of the patients have been discharged, Hong Kong authorities said Thursday.

Source: The Guardian January 09, 2020 06:56 UTC