70% of Wuhan Patients Visit Seafood Market|新型冠狀病毒41病例 7成海鮮市場暴露史

Taiwan has sent two epidemiologists to Wuhan investigate. They discovered that among 41 patients, 71 percent previously visited a seafood market. Thirteen others did not but were still infected. The cause of their infection cannot be determined at present time. Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control announced it was raising its Wuhan travel advisory to Category 2. However, it will not stop Taiwanese businesspersons living in Wuhan from returning to Taiwan.


Taiwan sent two epidemiologists to Wuhan to investigate the coronavirus outbreak. They arrived in Wuhan around midnight on the 13th and attended a briefing at the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention later in the day. On the 14th, they visited with patients at hospitals and observed patients in quarantine. They found out from local officials that two of the cases were family cluster infections.

The first case is a husband and wife. The husband works at Huanan Seafood Market, but the wife has mobility difficulties so she never goes to the market. Also, the wife got sick five days after the husband. It's possible that she was infected by her husband at home. The second family cluster infection is because these three people all work at the seafood market. They all got sick within two days of each other. They may all have been exposed at the market.

China has not ruled out human-to-human transmission. The incubation period is believed to be around two weeks and infection source remains unclear. The infection is spreading more slowly than SARS and more observation is needed.

As of now, it feels like the disease is spreading more slowly. It feels like the fatality rate is lower.

There have been cases reported in Thailand and Japan, but none of the patients have visited seafood markets. Infection source in these countries also remains unclear. Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control has upgraded its travel warning for Wuhan to Category 2 but is not restricting ROC citizens in Wuhan from returning to Taiwan. However, travelers that have been to Wuhan that develop respiratory conditions or fever within 14 days of returning to Taiwan should seek immediate medical attention.



中國武漢爆發新型冠狀病毒疫情引發各界關注，台灣派出兩名防疫專家於12日深夜11、12點到武漢，13日到湖北武漢市疾控中心聽取相關疫情調查、討論流行病學，14號則是去醫院了解病人臨床表現、重症負壓隔離病房的感控作為，並和當地官員做了解後，才知道有2起是家庭群聚感染案例。

疾管署防疫醫師 洪敏南表示：「第一起這個夫妻檔的部分，因為丈夫本身在華南海鮮市場有工作，老婆其實因為行動不方便，所以是不會去市場的，而且老婆的發病，是在老公發病5天之後發病，有可能其實是在這個家庭內，發生了傳染。第二起家庭聚集，因為這三個人，他們都是在海鮮市場上班，而且發病日都相距在兩天之內，可能認為，他們還是共同暴露在市場。」

目前陸方釋出的訊息包括2019新型冠狀病毒不排除有限度人傳人，疾病潛伏期可能為2週，感染源不明，但此疾病病程比SARS緩慢，可能要多觀察一段時間才知預後。

傳染病防治醫療網指揮官 莊銀清表示：「到目前為止的感覺上是說，病程的進展是比較慢的，好像是相對死亡率，比較低的那種感覺。」

由於近期泰國、日本相繼出現沒有到華南海鮮市場的確診病例，加上感染源還沒釐清，因此疾管署宣布，即日起提升武漢市旅遊疫情建議到第二級警示，目前不會管制武漢台商回台，但要是有武漢旅遊史，回國後14天出現呼吸道症狀、發燒等，就要儘速就醫。