Italy is checking flights from
the Chinese city and region of Wuhan for "suspected symptomatic
cases (of a SARS-like virus) and their eventual transfer in
bio-containment" to Rome's Spallanzani Hospital where such
infectious diseases are treated, the health ministry said
Monday.
Information posters have been put up at Fiumicino Airport,
which has three direct flights from Wuhan and many non-direct
ones, the ministry said.
The SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached
three other Asian nations is contagious between humans, a
government expert said Monday, fuelling fears of a major
outbreak as millions travel for the Lunar New Year holiday.
The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central
city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly
650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
The total number of people diagnosed with the virus rose to
218, as Beijing and Shanghai confirmed their first cases on
Monday while more than a dozen more emerged in southern
Guangdong province and and 136 new ones were found over the
weekend in Wuhan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
A third person died in Wuhan, the local health commission
said.
Scientists have scrambled to determine the mode of
transmission, with a seafood market in Wuhan believed to be the
centre of the outbreak.
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