Wuhan reports 17 new infections; warns more cases likely with Chinese New Year peak travel season

The Wuhan health authorities yesterday reported that 17 more people had been infected with a mysterious virus and warned that more cases are likely to emerge in the midst of the Chinese New Year travel season.

Officials have been providing updates on new cases almost daily since Jan 11, and the number reported yesterday was the highest since then.

In a media briefing, health officials from the central Chinese city said they had stepped up screenings and isolated hospital patients with viral pneumonia as a precaution.

"As testing continues, new cases are expected to continue to increase," said Dr Huang Chaolin, deputy director of the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, where infected patients are being treated.

Of the 17 new patients, three are seriously ill, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said.

Wuhan remains ground zero for infections in China with all 62 patients, including two who died, reported in the city. Three other cases have been reported outside China - two in Thailand and one in Japan. The cases in Thailand involved Chinese tourists from Wuhan while the patient in Japan had visited the Chinese city.

Wuhan health officials say the virus is not highly contagious but acknowledge that there is a possibility of transmission between humans. That risk remains low, they say.

Most of the cases in the city have been traced to a seafood wholesale market, which also sells live animals and exotic wildlife, but the fact that several patients had no connection to the site also suggests the virus has spread by other means.

China is well into its annual migration for the Chinese New Year at the end of the week with hundreds of millions of people on the move, travelling home for family reunions or going on holidays overseas.

A city of 11 million, Wuhan is a major transport hub and officials have carried out temperature screenings at the airport, railway stations, coach stations and piers since Jan 14. Passengers with fever were being registered, given masks and taken to medical facilities. Deputy Mayor Chen Yanxin said that all those leaving Wuhan were also being screened from yesterday.

The Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, believed to be the epicentre of the outbreak, has been closed for disinfection since Jan 1 but, in a bid to arrest the spread of the virus, the authorities have been cleaning up markets across the city.

"At the same time, the city's agricultural trade markets and various business establishments are being cleaned up, the sale of live poultry is strictly prohibited, the illegal breeding, processing and sale of wild animals are strictly prohibited," Mr Chen said.

The Wuhan government has also embarked on a crackdown on the illegal wildlife trade, he added.

In a statement last night, the National Health Commission insisted that the virus could be controlled and an epidemic prevented.

The authorities in Hong Kong, the United States, Thailand and Singapore have been screening visitors from Wuhan.

Six suspected cases have been detected in Singapore, five of whom have tested negative for the virus.