India plans surveillance at major airports following pneumonia outbreak in China

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a new type of coronavirus is the cause of the outbreak in China. The symptoms include with fever, cough and chest congestion and can lead to lung collapse and multi-organ failure in severe cases.

India is likely to start surveillance at major airports to track in-bound international passengers, especially those travelling from China, for symptoms of a new strain of pneumonia following an outbreak in the country’s Wuhan city.

A vendor gives out copies of newspaper with a headlines of "Wuhan break out a new type of coronavirus, Hong Kong prevent SARS repeat" at a street in Hong Kong on Saturday. (AP File Photo)

On Saturday, China reported the first death from the outbreak. Tentative diagnosis showed 41 people suffering from the new strain of pneumonia, news agency PTI quoted the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission as saying in a statement.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a new type of coronavirus is the cause of the outbreak in China. The symptoms include with fever, cough and chest congestion and can lead to lung collapse and multi-organ failure in severe cases.

The Union health ministry met representatives from the WHO on Wednesday to monitor the situation. “There was a meeting with officials from the WHO on the issue and the final details are being worked out on the kind of measures needed at this point in time,” a health ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause respiratory illnesses like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). These viruses are also known to cause mild illnesses like the common cold.

“Coronaviruses are highly infectious and very prone to mutation. It’s difficult to predict their behavior. Since it is an acute respiratory tract infection, its spread is easy and fast. However, India doesn’t need to panic as of now,” said Dr Ekta Gupta, senior microbiologist at a Delhi government-run hospital.

According to the outbreak protocol, all major international airports are directed to keep track of in-bound passengers suspected to have symptoms of the disease, especially flying in from the region of outbreak.

“The details are yet to be finalized but airports are vulnerable because of the huge movement of international passengers on a daily basis, which is why airport authorities are being briefed,” the official said.

An official from the Indian Council of Medical Research said, “There are no new cases in China. There is no evidence of human to human transmission. It appears to be a new zoonotic Corona virus.”