https://www.scmp.com/rss/319321/feed The Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) has killed more than 800 people since 2012. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The World Health Organization said on Monday it was thrashing out a new list of priority pathogens that risk sparking pandemics or outbreaks and should be kept under close observation. The WHO said the aim was to update a list used to guide global research and development (R&D) and investment, especially in vaccines, tests and treatments. As part of that process, which started on Friday, the United Nations’ health agency is convening over 300 scientists to consider evidence on more than 25 virus... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3200471/next-pandemic-who-working-list-pathogens-watch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3200471/next-pandemic-who-working-list-pathogens-watch?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Nov 2022 18:20:39 +0000 Drew Weissman’s decades of research helped pave the way for mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, but the scientist isn’t resting on his laurels. The University of Pennsylvania immunologist, who on Thursday shared the US$3 million 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences with his long-time collaborator Katalin Kariko, is now spearheading efforts to design a new vaccine against all coronaviruses. The Silicon Valley-backed award honours major discoveries with the highest cash amounts in science. “There have... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3148192/co-inventor-mrna-shots-works-new-vaccine-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3148192/co-inventor-mrna-shots-works-new-vaccine-against?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Sep 2021 14:25:28 +0000 Taiwanese visitors to mainland China could face problems if their Covid-19 test certificates carry the words “Wuhan coronavirus”, according to flag carrier Air China. “Regarding passengers who are taking cross-strait flights and need to provide a Covid-19 negative polymerase chain reaction certificate issued within 72 hours, they are reminded to provide the certificates that bear the official term ‘Covid-19’ or ‘novel coronavirus’,” the company said in a notice to Taiwanese travel agents on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3114545/beijing-may-refuse-entry-taiwanese-visitors-wuhan-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3114545/beijing-may-refuse-entry-taiwanese-visitors-wuhan-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Dec 2020 10:00:08 +0000 The World Health Organisation is set to lead an international mission into China to conduct a full investigation with local scientists into the Covid-19 outbreak’s first known cases to try to trace the virus responsible back to its animal origins, the organisation said on Monday. A two-person team of WHO experts sent to China last month completed the groundwork for a larger, WHO-led international investigation to follow, the organisation said in a regular press briefing. The team spent three... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3096005/coronavirus-who-gears-main-mission-china-hunt-origins-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3096005/coronavirus-who-gears-main-mission-china-hunt-origins-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Aug 2020 13:30:12 +0000 A leading scientist at the Wuhan laboratory at the centre of claims it was the source of the Covid-19 outbreak has called for an apology from Donald Trump. Shi Zhengli, who directs the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, also hit out the US government for stopping funding for joint research with US scientists. She told Science magazine that investigations had ruled out the possibility that the virus had escaped from the laboratory – a theory promoted by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3094700/chinas-bat-woman-demands-donald-trump-apologise-over-claim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3094700/chinas-bat-woman-demands-donald-trump-apologise-over-claim?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Jul 2020 14:00:15 +0000 Top scientists are calling for a “quantum leap” in research on bat viruses to avoid the next pandemic, while saying that a failure to listen to alarm bells rung by those already doing this work has led to the Covid-19 crisis. Writing in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 10 eminent scientists – including from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – said warnings about the risks of bat coronaviruses causing human disease had gone unheeded for years, and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3094447/coronavirus-top-scientists-push-quantum-leap-bat-virus-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3094447/coronavirus-top-scientists-push-quantum-leap-bat-virus-research?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:00:12 +0000 China on Friday confirmed it had ordered unauthorised laboratories to destroy samples of the new coronavirus in the early stage of the outbreak, but said it was done for biosafety reasons. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly said that Beijing declined to provide virus samples taken from patients when the contagion began in China late last year, and that Chinese authorities had destroyed early samples. Liu Dengfeng, an official with the National Health Commission’s science and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3084635/china-confirms-unauthorised-labs-were-told-destroy-early?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3084635/china-confirms-unauthorised-labs-were-told-destroy-early?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2020 12:04:58 +0000 Three children in New York have died from a rare inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday, a development that may augur a pandemic risk for the very young. Both Cuomo and his counterpart in the neighbouring state of New Jersey also spoke on Saturday about the pandemic’s growing toll on mental health, another factor on the minds of governors as they weigh the impact of mounting job losses against health risks in moving to loosen... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3083672/rare-syndrome-tied-covid-19-kills-three-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3083672/rare-syndrome-tied-covid-19-kills-three-children?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 May 2020 19:59:19 +0000 Scientists have created a fully synthesised strain of the coronavirus with brewer’s yeast, according to a new study from Europe. This development would help “provide an infectious virus to health authorities and diagnostic laboratories without the need of having access to clinical samples”, said the researchers led by Joerg Jores and Volker Thiel from the University of Bern in Switzerland, in a paper published in Nature on Monday. The man-made strains not only returned almost identical sequence... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3083199/synthetic-coronavirus-created-brewers-yeast-comes-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3083199/synthetic-coronavirus-created-brewers-yeast-comes-research?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2020 15:00:11 +0000 The discovery of the new coronavirus in mink on farms in the Netherlands highlights the need to pay close attention to how the virus spreads in animals, experts say. Two mink breeding farms in the country have been placed under quarantine after animals were found to have been infected by the virus that causes Covid-19, likely from farm staff, according to reports of a government announcement on Sunday. The Dutch agriculture ministry said there was “minimal” possibility that the infected minks... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3081803/keep-eye-animals-mink-dutch-farms-test-positive-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3081803/keep-eye-animals-mink-dutch-farms-test-positive-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Apr 2020 02:00:13 +0000 Covid-19 has upended the schedules for major gatherings relating to the environment. Two of the world’s most important meetings have been postponed, with new dates still to be agreed – the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD15), originally scheduled for October, and the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) originally scheduled for November. China was to host for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3081302/how-china-and-britain-can-lead-biodiversity-and-climate-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3081302/how-china-and-britain-can-lead-biodiversity-and-climate-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2020 19:00:09 +0000 China is leading the world in coronavirus research, with the highest number of active clinical studies under way, according to a new ranking by a financial information provider based in Britain. The Coronavirus Research Index, launched by Finbold.com, has identified nearly 300 ongoing research projects in 39 countries and regions, all of which have confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. China has 60 ongoing studies, followed by 49 in the United States and 26 in France, according to an... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078953/china-leads-world-coronavirus-research-followed-united-states?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078953/china-leads-world-coronavirus-research-followed-united-states?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2020 05:59:47 +0000 Mass lockdowns and widespread social distancing may have prevented 59,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to a new model from Imperial College in London. A team of researchers – including Neil Ferguson, whose projections helped inform the British government’s response to the outbreak and Samir Bhatt – estimated that tens of thousands of lives had been saved in 11 countries as a result of measures such as case isolation, school closures, bans on mass gatherings as well as local and national... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3078445/mass-lockdowns-europe-may-have-helped-save-59000-lives-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3078445/mass-lockdowns-europe-may-have-helped-save-59000-lives-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2020 11:36:19 +0000 The World Health Organisation’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked controversy and its chief has been criticised for favouring China. The WHO removed the term “Wuhan” in naming the deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus and did not call for travel or trade restrictions on China. However, such criticism is misguided. Firstly, the WHO named the novel coronavirus disease Covid-19 based on the best naming practices created in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3078102/coronavirus-who-has-played-book-there-was-no-china-factor-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3078102/coronavirus-who-has-played-book-there-was-no-china-factor-its?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:30:15 +0000 Middle-aged people, and not just the elderly, have a dramatically higher risk of dying or developing serious illness from Covid-19, new research from Britain showed on Tuesday. The findings came in a new comprehensive analysis of virus cases in mainland China. Researchers from Britain analysed more than 3,600 confirmed coronavirus cases as well as data from hundreds of passengers repatriated from the outbreak city of Wuhan. They found that age was a key determining factor in serious infections,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3077808/coronavirus-middle-aged-people-greater-risk-dying-covid-19-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3077808/coronavirus-middle-aged-people-greater-risk-dying-covid-19-study?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2020 15:16:53 +0000 US President Donald Trump has noticeably changed his tune on China and the coronavirus – from praising then blaming China for mishandling the outbreak to stressing the need to work with Beijing as the pandemic takes a greater toll on the United States. After a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Trump on Friday referred to the pathogen as the “coronavirus that is ravaging large parts of our planet”, rather than the controversial term “Chinese virus” he had used earlier. In the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3077350/donald-trump-zigs-zags-and-zigs-again-china-and-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3077350/donald-trump-zigs-zags-and-zigs-again-china-and-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:00:16 +0000 Doctors and epidemiologists insist that we do not yet know much about Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the Covid-19 disease, which from a scientific standpoint is certainly true. But government leaders and policymakers do not have the luxury of waiting until all the facts can be gathered before making difficult decisions. Like poker players, they must weigh the risks in a game of incomplete information. But incomplete information is not no information: We know Covid-19 spreads rapidly, often... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075179/asia-has-gained-some-perspective-coronavirus-europe-and-us-should?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075179/asia-has-gained-some-perspective-coronavirus-europe-and-us-should?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2020 11:00:13 +0000 The first autopsy conducted on a Chinese Covid-19 victim has highlighted the damage the disease causes to the lungs. The pathological features of Covid-19 were found to resemble those seen in severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers), which are in the same family of coronavirus. The report, released on Friday, said it was too soon to draw firm conclusions about the disease, but said the lung lesions it produced were less pronounced than Sars. It also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3052957/first-coronavirus-autopsy-highlights-how-illness-targets-lungs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3052957/first-coronavirus-autopsy-highlights-how-illness-targets-lungs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2020 13:48:03 +0000 The Covid-19 epidemic sweeping through the Asia-Pacific appears to be heading inland towards Western Asia and Europe. This past week has witnessed the first major outbreaks outside the Asia-Pacific, in Iran and Italy, prompting temporary lockdowns on schools, museums, universities and cinemas, as well as bans on public gatherings. With a climbing death toll and infections diffusing through the continent, Covid-19 takes on new meaning as it reopens the scars left by the severe acute respiratory... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052304/what-world-learned-sars-stands-us-good-stead-curb-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052304/what-world-learned-sars-stands-us-good-stead-curb-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2020 22:30:07 +0000 The new coronavirus attacks the body in similar ways to Sars and Mers, according to Chinese researchers involved in a new medical study based on an autopsy of one of the ongoing outbreak’s victims, who had suffered lung and liver damage. The report, published this week in British medical journal The Lancet by experts from the Fifth Medical Centre of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Hospital in Beijing, obtained biopsy samples from the autopsy of a 50-year-old man who died in late January... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051582/man-killed-coronavirus-had-organ-damage-similar-caused-sars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051582/man-killed-coronavirus-had-organ-damage-similar-caused-sars?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:19:55 +0000 The risk of the deadly coronavirus to China’s frontline health staff is in sharp focus with health authorities announcing that 1,303 more medical workers had been diagnosed with or were suspected of having the disease. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that by February 11 there were more than 3,000 coronavirus cases among medical workers, 1,716 of whom had tested positive and showed symptoms. Hours after the new numbers were released, authorities... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051207/china-reports-1300-more-coronavirus-cases-among-medical-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051207/china-reports-1300-more-coronavirus-cases-among-medical-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Feb 2020 13:30:15 +0000 China’s apparent failure to respond to a US offer of help with a coronavirus outbreak points to politicisation of the health crisis between the two countries, according to an analyst. An advance team of international specialists led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) landed in Beijing on Monday, on a trip the WHO said was meant to better understand the Chinese public health response, the origin of the virus and the severity of the disease. As of Wednesday, the coronavirus, which first spread... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3050522/politics-play-us-role-who-coronavirus-team-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3050522/politics-play-us-role-who-coronavirus-team-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:00:15 +0000 China’s challenges in fulfilling its phase one trade deal with the US while battling the coronavirus will make consultation between the countries vital, observers said, as a White House official warned the virus could reduce Chinese purchases of US products. Robert O’Brien, the White House national security adviser, said on Tuesday that the outbreak could reduce Chinese purchases of American agricultural products this year. “We expected the phase one deal will allow China to import more food and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3050299/coronavirus-could-cut-chinas-purchases-us-goods-under-phase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3050299/coronavirus-could-cut-chinas-purchases-us-goods-under-phase?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Feb 2020 10:52:42 +0000 The novel coronavirus outbreak has prompted most businesses and companies to allow their employees to work from home. This measure can help curtail the disease’s spread and partially address the dearth of face masks. However, despite hard lessons learned from the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2003, many organisations, including educational institutions, remain chronically unaware of the need to devise guidelines for facing a pandemic of such a scale. Your report on staff anger in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3049449/coronavirus-shows-how-hong-kong-workplaces-are-still-badly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3049449/coronavirus-shows-how-hong-kong-workplaces-are-still-badly?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Feb 2020 23:10:11 +0000 As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 724 on Friday, the rate at which fatalities are being reported suggests it may soon surpass the 813 attributed to the Sars outbreak of 2002-03, experts say. All but two of the deaths have been in mainland China, with Hubei province and its capital city Wuhan being the worst affected. More than 34,500 people have been infected by the virus in China, with about 330 confirmed cases elsewhere around the world, according to official figures. On... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049640/coronavirus-track-kill-more-people-sars-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049640/coronavirus-track-kill-more-people-sars-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2020 09:30:13 +0000 The World Health Organisation estimates the case fatality rate for the novel coronavirus at 2 per cent. Other estimates range from 3.5 to 4 per cent. While the illness is life-threatening for some, most of those infected will experience only mild, flu-like symptoms. Although WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared a global health emergency, the concern, he said, was not due to health concerns in China but the inability of weaker public health care systems in other countries to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048953/are-we-overreacting-coronavirus-threat-and-merely-creating-bigger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048953/are-we-overreacting-coronavirus-threat-and-merely-creating-bigger?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Feb 2020 17:00:05 +0000 There’s no need for disease prevention measures that “unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade”, the head of the World Health Organisation stressed on Monday as China accused the US of spreading fear about a coronavirus outbreak by imposing a travel ban. “We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the agency, told the WHO executive board. “Global connectiveness is a weakness in this... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048794/who-chief-calls-caution-coronavirus-trade-and-travel-bans-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048794/who-chief-calls-caution-coronavirus-trade-and-travel-bans-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2020 15:00:14 +0000 Returning from London, I landed at airports that seem to be from outer space, with everyone in masks and health inspectors in what looked like spacesuits. The World Health Organisation has warned that the world must be better prepared against the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, which has infected thousands worldwide and killed over 200 in China. “Virus” comes from the Latin word meaning “poison”. Coronaviruses belong to a family of viruses responsible for illnesses from the common cold to the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048298/viral-connectivity-means-we-all-have-accept-threat-disease-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048298/viral-connectivity-means-we-all-have-accept-threat-disease-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2020 22:30:11 +0000 Zhang Jianli, 48, went into hospital for a routine operation in the central Chinese city of Wuhan earlier this month. Two weeks later, she is in a serious condition with a deadly coronavirus. While the family was not certain if Zhang contracted the virus at the hospital, daughter Li Ruiqi said that Zhang had not been to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the coronavirus is thought to have originated. Since the coronavirus outbreak began in December, more than 6,000 people have been... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048096/cross-infection-chinas-coronavirus-epicentre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048096/cross-infection-chinas-coronavirus-epicentre?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 12:30:05 +0000 When the Netflix docuseries Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak began streaming last week, it landed just in time for the peak flu season. It also coincidentally aired as a deadly new coronavirus first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan put health authorities worldwide on alert. Wuhan and several other Chinese cities are in lockdown over the Lunar New Year holiday, when hundreds of millions of Chinese usually travel for family reunions and breaks. The docuseries carries a dire warning: “When... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3047604/pandemic-netflix-series-about-doctors-scientists-fighting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3047604/pandemic-netflix-series-about-doctors-scientists-fighting?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2020 12:00:12 +0000 As the Chinese city of Wuhan goes into lockdown to prevent the spread of the China coronavirus, and a handful of other jurisdictions including Hong Kong report their own cases, fears are growing that the situation could turn into a global pandemic. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses common in animals, including camels and bats. Most human coronaviruses, such as the common cold, typically cause mild-to-moderate illness, but some are capable of causing severe disease. This is not the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3047309/beyond-china-coronavirus-deadly-diseases-hong-kong-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3047309/beyond-china-coronavirus-deadly-diseases-hong-kong-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2020 04:44:38 +0000 Just two weeks before tens of millions of Chinese travellers hit the road for Lunar New Year, health officials across Asia are scrambling to prevent the spread of a viral pneumonia outbreak in central China. Officials from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur are stockpiling protective gear, preparing isolation beds and even boarding trains to individually screen passengers to contain the virus, which Chinese scientists have identified as a new strain of coronavirus from the same family that caused the 2003... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3045317/wuhan-pneumonia-asia-battens-down-chinese-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3045317/wuhan-pneumonia-asia-battens-down-chinese-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2020 05:26:42 +0000 An express rail train was taken out of service on Sunday night after a passenger suspected to be suffering from the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) was intercepted in Hong Kong. The man, a foreign national, was found to have a fever and suspected Mers symptoms as he passed through the Department of Health's Port Health Office at the cross-border rail link’s West Kowloon terminal at about 6.20pm, according to the MTR Corporation. Both he and a companion were sent to hospital by... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2181921/express-rail-train-taken-out-service-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2181921/express-rail-train-taken-out-service-after?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jan 2019 02:47:05 +0000 University of Hong Kong researchers have discovered a potential breakthrough that could boost survival of Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) involving a combination of two readily available drugs. The combination involves cyclosporine – an immunosuppressant often used in organ transplants to prevent rejection – and interferon, which is used to treat influenza. The drugs would only have to be taken for three to seven days. Fatty liver disease is the ticking time bomb you’ve never heard of –... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2149412/mers-breakthrough-university-hong-kong-researchers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2149412/mers-breakthrough-university-hong-kong-researchers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jun 2018 23:31:09 +0000 A novel virus, moderately contagious and moderately lethal, has surfaced and is spreading rapidly around the globe. Outbreaks first appear in Frankfurt, Germany and Caracas, Venezuela. The virus is transmitted person-to-person, primarily by coughing. There are no effective antivirals or vaccines. American troops stationed abroad are infected. Now the first case to reach the United States has been identified on a small college campus in Massachusetts. So began a recent day-long exercise hosted by... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2148618/john-hopkins-mock-global-pandemic-leaves-150-million?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2148618/john-hopkins-mock-global-pandemic-leaves-150-million?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 May 2018 06:26:26 +0000 Two foreign visitors to Hong Kong were taken to hospital on Thursday after showing symptoms of Middle East respiratory syndrome. The 48-year-old man and his two-year-old granddaughter had recently visited Saudi Arabia before arriving via mainland China using the through train from the southern city of Guangzhou. It was not clear whether they boarded the train in Guangzhou or in nearby Changping in Dongguan. They arrived at Hong Kong’s Hung Hom station at about 6.18pm on Thursday. A screening at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2106375/two-visitors-hong-kong-taken-hospital-symptoms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2106375/two-visitors-hong-kong-taken-hospital-symptoms?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Aug 2017 03:33:29 +0000 A single “super-spreader” patient in a busy hospital emergency department spread Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) to 82 people in just three days during a big outbreak of the virus in South Korea, scientists said. Those infected included patients, visitors and health workers, and the situation was made worse by overcrowding, according to researchers whose findings were published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday. The study shows the potential for outbreaks of Mers from a single... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1987587/south-korean-mers-outbreak-super-spreader-patient-linked-82?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1987587/south-korean-mers-outbreak-super-spreader-patient-linked-82?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jul 2016 07:05:35 +0000 A foreign visitor who came to Hong Kong from Guangzhou by train on Monday and was suspected to have contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome tested negative on Tuesday. MTR Corporation said the visitor and an accompanying friend had been sent to hospital for check-ups after health inspectors at Hung Hom station found that one of them showed symptoms for Mers. At noon Tuesday, the Centre for Health Protection confirmed the suspected case tested negative for the Mers coronavirus. INFOGRAPHIC:... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1940596/traveller-hong-kong-train-guangzhou-sent-hospital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1940596/traveller-hong-kong-train-guangzhou-sent-hospital?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 May 2016 02:00:15 +0000 Two genes have been identified by University of Hong Kong researchers as key to triggering the growth of the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) virus. The breakthrough provided insights into the development of more targeted medication in future, as there is no specific vaccine or antiviral treatment for Mers. READ MORE: A cure for Mers? Hong Kong scientists endorse two drugs they say cured marmosets of the virus The virus has infected more than 1,600 people around the world since... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1915622/mers-breakthrough-hong-kong-researchers-pinpoint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1915622/mers-breakthrough-hong-kong-researchers-pinpoint?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:02:37 +0000 The infection source of the coronavirus behind the recent deadly outbreak in South Korea has been traced back to one-humped camels in Saudi Arabia after a research team led by the University of Hong Kong  found the animals to be infected by three strains of the virus at the same time. The virus that caused the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome which killed 36 people in South Korea was the fifth mutation of the virus – a recombination of the third and fourth generation – said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1892513/deadly-mers-virus-outbreak-south-korea-came-saudi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1892513/deadly-mers-virus-outbreak-south-korea-came-saudi?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Dec 2015 19:30:15 +0000 A South Korean man died of complications from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) Sunday, in the first death linked to the virus in the country for more than three months. The 66-year-old man was diagnosed in June after contracting the virus at the Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul - one of the major epicentres of the disease that swept the country between May and July, Seoul’s health ministry said. He later underwent a lung transplant operation, but his condition did not stabilise even after... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1871892/south-korean-man-dies-complications-deadly-mers-virus-more-3?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1871892/south-korean-man-dies-complications-deadly-mers-virus-more-3?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Oct 2015 10:15:30 +0000 Mers coronavirus infections have soared in Saudi Arabia ahead of the haj pilgrimage, forcing the closure of a major hospital's emergency ward in Riyadh and killing three people, officials said. The Saudi Gazette said yesterday authorities shut the emergency ward at the King Abdulaziz Medical City, one of the capital's largest hospitals, "after at least 46 people, including hospital staff" contracted the Middle East respiratory syndrome. The health ministry has said it registered 21 confirmed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1851185/three-dead-mers-cases-soar-saudi-arabia-ahead-haj-pilgrimage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1851185/three-dead-mers-cases-soar-saudi-arabia-ahead-haj-pilgrimage?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Aug 2015 19:14:53 +0000 The Hong Kong health authority alerted the South Korean health department that the summer peak for influenza ended in the city yesterday – in the hope that the country would drop a controversial travel warning.  On July 9, South Korea issued a blue warning – the lowest level on a scale of four warnings – over a flu outbreak in Hong Kong which claimed more than 100 lives this summer. Seoul’s announcement followed Hong Kong’s decision in June to issue a red-travel warning for South Korea, where... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1846932/hong-kong-tells-south-korea-citys-summer-flu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1846932/hong-kong-tells-south-korea-citys-summer-flu?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:02:11 +0000 South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday replaced her health minister, who was widely blamed for the government’s poor response to the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) that killed 36 people. Moon Hyung-pyo, who had offered to step down after apologising for the public anxiety caused by the biggest Mers outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, was replaced by Chung Chin-youb, a Seoul National University hospital professor, the president’s office said. The cabinet change came a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1846368/south-koreas-president-dumps-health-minister-after-poor-response?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1846368/south-koreas-president-dumps-health-minister-after-poor-response?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Aug 2015 06:45:30 +0000 Hong Kong yesterday formally lifted the red travel alert on South Korea, after the Department of Health declared the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) outbreak was under control. The city lowered its response level for Mers from "serious" to "alert" and scrapped its travel alert - a more formal warning against non-essential journeys. The decisions were made after health care institutions in South Korea detected no new cases within 28 days - twice the maximum incubation period. The last... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845734/hong-kong-lifts-red-travel-alert-against-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845734/hong-kong-lifts-red-travel-alert-against-south?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Aug 2015 03:30:00 +0000 University of Hong Kong researchers have found Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) is capable of disarming a person's immune defence system in a matter of hours. HKU microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, who led the study, told the South China Morning Post the research offered a new explanation as to why Mers was almost four times more fatal than severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). The results add to earlier studies which found that even though Mers spread less easily than Sars, it... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845368/hong-kong-study-uncovers-immune-system-key-mers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845368/hong-kong-study-uncovers-immune-system-key-mers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:00:30 +0000 South Korean officials yesterday unveiled a strategy to lure back Hong Kong tourists with discounts and gifts, after the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) caused a 75 per cent drop in the number of visitors from the city last month. The Korea Tourism Organisation said 13,949 tourists visited from Hong Kong last month, down from 54,884 in the same month last year. South Korea declared earlier this week that the outbreak of the virus that killed 36 people in the country was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845272/south-korea-touts-deep-travel-discounts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845272/south-korea-touts-deep-travel-discounts?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:57:19 +0000 Hongkongers were quick to sign up for early-bird tours to South Korea yesterday as Seoul declared the effective end of its outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). Hong Kong announced it would consider dropping its travel warning for the country - issued June 9 - as early as Friday since there had been no new cases there since July 3. At a meeting of government officials in Seoul yesterday, South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said: "After weighing various circumstances, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1844688/hong-kong-tourists-rush-grab-early-bird-trip-deals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1844688/hong-kong-tourists-rush-grab-early-bird-trip-deals?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2015 19:15:30 +0000 South Korea today declared the effective end to a deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) that killed 36 people, triggered widespread panic and stymied growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. However, with one patient still undergoing treatment in hospital, the announcement by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn stopped short of formally declaring South Korea Mers-free. Addressing a meeting of government officials in Seoul, Hwang said the danger posed by what was the biggest... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1844217/south-korea-declares-mers-outbreak-over-last-patient-undergoes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1844217/south-korea-declares-mers-outbreak-over-last-patient-undergoes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2015 04:30:30 +0000 A breakthrough study by the University of Hong Kong has found two existing drugs offer the best hope of beating the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) coronavirus that has claimed hundreds of lives globally since its emergence three years ago. The two medicines, which are now being used to treat HIV and sclerosis, have proven to be effective in curing Mers-infected marmosets, palm-size monkeys that are considered the best animal models to study the virus. The research is the first in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1844176/hku-scientists-recommend-two-drugs-now-use-treat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1844176/hku-scientists-recommend-two-drugs-now-use-treat?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:45:45 +0000