Following hot on the heels of UK scientists warning of a new SARs like virus, scientists in the US have now warned travellers to beware of the infection when travelling.
The new corona virus has now killed more than half of the people who have caught it. as scientists have confirmed the British findings that the disease can be passed from human to human it would only take one case to start the spread of it through the United states.
The CDC warns that those travelling to the Middle east have the highest possibility of catching the disease but that it would be difficult to stop the spread to the greater population as its mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Professor John Watson of the UK Health Protection Agency said:
“The routes of transmission to humans of the novel coronavirus have not yet been fully determined, but the recent UK experience provides strong evidence of human-to-human transmission in at least some circumstances,”
Signs of infection usually occur 10 days after contact with another infected person, but at least one patient died within a few days of contracting the disease. The CDC urges vigilance. CDC Director Dr Thomas Frieden said at a press conference on Tuesday:
“We have a very serious problem and we need to sound an alarm”
The CDC have said they will issue regular updates to keep the public informed of the new threat. In the meantime research continues on both sides of the Atlantic to find how the virus infects people and what, if anything can be done about it.