A Brisbane man has been on quarantine since Tuesday after displaying symptoms of the unknown deadly virus, and is now in isolation until the release of the test results for the said virus.
The man had visited Wuhan province in China, where the mysterious virus is said to have originated.
Because of this, authorities will tighten airport security and monitor passengers from flights between Wuhan province and Australia.
There are three direct flights from Wuhan to Sydney every week, and these flights will now go through the biosecurity staff.
According to Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, the risk of outbreak in Australia is low and that there is no need for concern.
He also stated that there is instead a need for precautionary surveillance in this situation.
He says that there are currently no confirmed case of the virus among international travelers in Australia and well-established biosecurity measures exists at every border.
The authorities will display information about the virus on all other entry points into Australia to warn everyone to identify people showing symptoms and for them to seek urgent medical attention.
The Australian and Chinese authorities will work hand in hand to spread information about the said virus.
The New Coronavirus
The pneumonia-like disease started in a local seafood market in Wuhan, China in December of last year.
Symptoms include fever, cough and breathing difficulty, while some patients develop pneumonia.
The new virus belongs to the Coronavirus family, the same family of virus where two global killers emerged: SARS and MERS.
SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, originated from China and killed 774 people while MERS, or Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, killed 787 people worldwide.
Coronavirus is a common, large pathogen family, which causes mild respiratory infections such as the common cold.
However, since SARS and MERS were proven deadly, health officials around the world closely monitor this new virus.
It is suspected that this new virus have originated in animals, similar to the two global killer viruses.
This unknown virus killed four people and infected around 1,700 people in Wuhan since December.
Other countries recorded confirmed cases as well – two in Thailand, and one in both Japan and South Korea.