The mysterious virus thought to be isolated to China was just confirmed to have reached Japan.
What’s going on: Japan confirmed Thursday its first case of the mysterious coronavirus that has plagued China, sickening 41 people, according to The New York Times.
- The appearance raises immediate concerns that the virus is spreading beyond China’s wall.
- Japan’s Health Ministry told The New York Times that the mysterious virus — that is similar to pneumonia — infected a Chinese man in his 30s living in Kanagawa Prefecture, which is near Tokyo.
- The man returned to Japan on Jan. 6 after visiting Wuhan, which has been the center point for the virus outbreak.
- The man first felt his fever on Jan. 3. He was hospitalized last Friday. But he left five days later due to recovery.
Yes, but: As I reported this week, the World Health Organization said it’s likely the virus spread from a seafood market in Wuhan that sells birds and animals. The virus reportedly was isolated to that area.
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Spreading: The virus is believed to not spread between humans.
- “At this stage, there is no infection among health care workers, and no clear evidence of human to human transmission,” according to the World Health Organization (via South China Morning Post).
- However: The Japan Health Ministry told The New York Times “it is possible that the patient had close contact with an unknown patient with lung inflammation while in China.”
- In response to that statement, Malik Peiris, a public health virologist at the University of Hong Kong, told The New York Times: “If that was the case, that there had been no direct exposure to animals, then that is very concerning, for sure.”