How did the first identified patients get the new coronavirus?
How did the first identified patients get the new coronavirus?
The toll of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV, responsible for the pneumonia epidemic from Wuhan (China), increased significantly on Saturday, January 25, to nearly 1,300 people affected and 41 dead, all in China for the latter . Cases have been detected in recent days in a dozen countries, from Japan to France, Australia and the United States.
Three infected patients, the first in Europe, were confirmed in France on Friday evening, January 24, one in Bordeaux and the other two in Paris. At least two of them returned from China and were placed in hospital isolation. The patient hospitalized in Bordeaux is fine. The other two are currently at Bichat Hospital (Paris). The health authorities are trying to reach everyone they have been in contact with. "We must treat an epidemic as we treat a fire, quickly locate the source" and "circumscribe it as soon as possible", said the Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn, Friday evening, before warning: "We will probably other cases. "
"The system is ready to deal with this situation," assures Le Monde Aurélien Rousseau, the director general of the Ile-de-France regional health agency, whose services are responsible for investigating the lives of those affected. "Since Ebola, the organization has been fairly well established, the cases identified are referred to the infectious diseases departments of referral health establishments," he said.