TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Singapore Ministry of Health confirmed Saturday (Jan. 4) that a three-year-old Chinese traveler has developed symptoms of the mysterious viral pneumonia after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first observed.
According to a press release from Singaporean authorities, the female patient has been admitted to a local hospital after displaying signs of the new virus as well as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a common cause of respiratory tract infections in young children. The exact cause of her illness is still being investigated.
According to the report, the patient had recently traveled to Wuhan. However, she had not visited Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (華南海鮮批發市場), where the pneumonia outbreak was suspected to originate.
The spate of atypical pneumonia cases has sparked fears of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), took 700 lives around the world between 2002 and 2003, To prevent the spread, Singapore has begun temperature screenings of all passengers arriving at its airports from Wuhan, reported Liberty Times.
Currently, 24 flights to Wuhan operate out of Taiwan each week, and strict screening measures have been implemented at all airports in the country. Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), director-general of the Taiwan Centers of Disease Control, said that medical teams will perform temperature tests on passengers from Wuhan before they are admitted into the country, reported Epoch Times.