A second person has died in China from a mystery virus that has stricken dozens and appeared in two other Asian countries, officials said.

Local authorities said a 69-year-old man died on Wednesday in Wuhan, the central Chinese city believed to be the epicentre of an outbreak of a coronavirus from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen.

The outbreak has caused alarm because of the link with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

At least 41 people have been hit with pneumonia linked to the new virus in China, prompting authorities in Hong Kong to step up detection measures, including temperature checkpoints for inbound travellers.

The Wuhan health commission said in a statement late Thursday that 12 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital, while five others were in serious condition.

The man who died had become sick on December 31 and his condition worsened five days later, with pulmonary tuberculosis and multiple organ functions damaged, the commission said.

Two other cases have been detected -- in Thailand and Japan -- with health managers in both countries saying the patients had visited Wuhan prior to their hospitalisations.

Authorities in Wuhan said a seafood market was the centre of the outbreak. It was closed on January 1.

No human-to-human transmission of the virus behind the Wuhan outbreak has been confirmed so far, but the health commission has said the possibility "cannot be excluded".

- Cases outside China -

A World Health Organization (WHO) doctor has said that it would not be surprising if there was "some limited human-to-human transmission, especially among families who have close contact with one another".

The Wuhan health commission said Wednesday a man who had been diagnosed worked at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, but his wife had been diagnosed with the illness despite reporting "no history of exposure" at the facility.

The woman diagnosed in Thailand had not reported visiting the seafood market, the WHO said on Tuesday. She was reported to be in stable condition earlier this week.

The patient in Japan, who was released from hospital, had also not visited the market. Japanese officials said it was possible that the man had been in contact with a person infected with the virus while in Wuhan.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 1 "Watch" alert for travellers to Wuhan, saying they should practise normal precautions and avoid contact with animals and sick people.

Japan reports first mystery virus case; as China cases spread among families
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Jan 17 - Japan has confirmed a case of a mystery virus that first emerged in China and is from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen, authorities said Thursday.

It appears to be only the second time the novel coronavirus has been detected outside China, after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed a case in Thailand.

Japan's health ministry said a man who had visited the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the apparent epicentre of the outbreak, was hospitalised on January 10, four days after his return to Japan. He reported a persistent fever.

Tests on the patient, who was released from hospital on Wednesday, confirmed he was infected with the new virus.

"This is the first domestic discovery of a pneumonia case related to the new coronavirus," the ministry said in a statement.

"We will continue active epidemiological research while also coordinating efforts with the World Health Organization and related agencies to conduct a risk assessment."

The outbreak has killed one person so far, with 41 patients reported in Wuhan.

The outbreak has caused alarm because the new virus is from the same family as the pathogen that causes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 349 people in mainland China and 299 in Hong Kong in 2002 and 2003.

Authorities in Wuhan said a seafood market was the centre of the outbreak. It was closed on January 1.

Japanese authorities said the man had not visited the market and that it was possible he had been in contact with a person infected with the virus while in Wuhan.

- Outbreak in Japan 'unlikely' -

Health ministry official Eiji Hinoshita told reporters that the risk of the disease spreading from the patient was considered low, with careful checks done on those who had been in close contact with him.

"At this point, we feel it is unlikely this will lead to a dramatic outbreak," he said, adding that the patient was no longer suffering a fever and was recuperating at home.

Officials declined to give further information on the man, including his nationality, citing privacy concerns.

Local media said the patient was a Chinese national in his 30s living in Kanagawa, just southwest of Tokyo.

Public broadcaster NHK said he had already recovered and was resting at home, as quarantine officials at Tokyo's Narita airport boosted health checks on all travellers.

The health ministry urged people who develop a cough or fever after visiting Wuhan to wear a surgical mask and "swiftly visit a medical institution".

Hinoshita said Japan would need to be on guard ahead of the Lunar New Year, a popular travel period in China.

"It is expected that Japan will see many visitors from China," he said.

It is not yet clear whether the mystery virus can be transmitted between humans, but on Wednesday authorities said it was possible it had spread inside a family.

The woman diagnosed in Thailand, who is in a stable condition, also said she had not visited the Wuhan seafood market.

And WHO doctor Maria Van Kerkhove on Tuesday said she "wouldn't be surprised if there was some limited human-to-human transmission, especially among families who have close contact with one another".

Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday said several dozen people had been hospitalised with fever or respiratory symptoms after travelling to Wuhan, but no cases of the new virus have so far been confirmed.

Mystery China virus patients could have infected family members: officials
Beijing (AFP) Jan 15, 2020 - A new virus from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen could have been spread between family members in the Chinese city of Wuhan, local authorities said Wednesday.

The outbreak, which has killed one person, has caused alarm because of the link with SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

One of the 41 patients reported in the city could have been infected by her husband, Wuhan's health commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

The announcement follows news that a Chinese woman had been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in Thailand after travelling there from Wuhan.

No human-to-human transmission of the virus behind the Wuhan outbreak has been confirmed so far, but the health commission said the possibility "cannot be excluded".

The commission said that one man who had been diagnosed worked at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been identified as the centre of the outbreak, but his wife had been diagnosed with the illness despite reporting "no history of exposure" at the market.

At a press conference on Wednesday following a fact-finding trip to Wuhan, Hong Kong health officials also said that the possibility of human-to-human transmission could not be ruled out despite no "definitive evidence".

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, said there were two family group cases among the recorded cases in Wuhan, including the husband and wife and a separate case of a father, son and nephew living together.

However, he said mainland doctors believed the three men were most likely to have been exposed to the same virus in the market.

The market has been closed since January 1.

The woman diagnosed in Thailand, who is currently in a stable condition, had not reported visiting the seafood market, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

WHO doctor Maria Van Kerkhove said Tuesday that they "wouldn't be surprised if there was some limited human-to-human transmission, especially among families who have close contact with one another".

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 1 "Watch" alert for travellers to Wuhan after the patient was diagnosed in Thailand, saying they should practice normal precautions and avoid contact with animals and sick people.

Wuhan's health commission said on Wednesday that most of the patients diagnosed with the virus were male, and many were middle-aged or elderly.

In Hong Kong, hospitals have raised their alert level to "serious" and stepped up detection measures including temperature checkpoints for inbound travellers.

Hong Kong authorities said on Tuesday that the number of people hospitalised with fever or respiratory symptoms in recent days after travelling to Wuhan had grown to 71, including seven new cases since Friday.

Sixty of that total, however, have already been discharged. None have yet been diagnosed with the new coronavirus.

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Wuhan, the Chinese city known as the home of a new virus that has sickened dozens, killed one man and sparked international concern, is not an obvious holiday destination. But Tian, a tourist from another metropolis around three hours' drive away, decided to make the trip despite trepidation from his family over reports of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak. "I said I should be fine, so I came," he told AFP after checking out of his hotel on Sunday, wearing a face mask as a precaution nonetheless. ... read more