There is no need to cancel your trip to Wuhan, where a viral disease outbreak has occurred, but do follow the advice from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and monitor the situation there, said Professor Leo Yee Sin, executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

As of yesterday morning, 44 patients had been hit by the mysterious flu-like virus of “unknown origin”, and 11 of them were critically ill, according to the latest statement from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. It also said that fever was the main symptom, and a few patients had difficulty breathing.

All cases have been isolated at medical institutions in Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei province. MOH has advised travellers to Wuhan to monitor their health closely and seek medical attention promptly if they feel unwell, and to inform their doctor of their travel history. Travellers and the public should also take precautions, including avoiding contact with live animals and with people who show signs of illness. They should also avoid consuming raw and undercooked meat and wash their hands frequently with soap, it added.

Chinese experts are now investigating the outbreak of viral pneumonia, cases of which first surfaced last month, said the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.

There is the general fear that it could become a major outbreak, though Prof Leo stressed there is no clear information as yet on how the disease will behave or transmit.

“Whether or not this virus is completely new, we don’t know,” she said.

“Today, there are newer techniques of examination in the lab. The lab can run through some of the common viruses... If we cannot pick up the common viruses that cause the common pneumonia, then the antenna should go up... We still have to wait for more answers.”

It can take a day to test for common pathogens and longer to find out if it is an uncommon or new one.

Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, who heads the infectious diseases programme at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said: “There are several hundred outbreaks each year reported to the World Health Organisation – virtually all are from known pathogens.

“Thankfully, truly novel human pathogens are rare. We are getting better at identifying them, and there are a handful each decade.”

The ones that have hit Singapore included the Nipah virus in 1997, and the 2002 to 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

Nevertheless, Prof Hsu said: “It is good to be cautious – a stance MOH has adopted – but not to be unduly worried at present.”

A key point was that so far, the cases all appeared to be linked to the South China Seafood City in Wuhan, and he noted that there had been no reports of human-tohuman transmission.

Professor Paul Tambyah from the department of medicine at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine said the risk to the public is low if a virus is not easily spread from human to human.

“That was apparently the case with Sars in late 2002. It was only when Sars became more easily spread from human to human that it became a global epidemic,” he said.

“That was many months later and probably due to inadequate control when the opportunity first arose in the markets of southern China at the beginning. Hopefully, with the lessons learnt from Sars, that will not happen again.”

Prof Leo said that for now, those heading to Wuhan should avoid going to animal markets, and upon returning, see a doctor early if they have a fever or simply do not feel well.

MOH has sent out circulars to doctors to ask them to look out for suspected cases involving people who have returned recently from the area. Prof Tambyah said these circulars have suggested that anyone who has returned from Wuhan in the past two weeks and has symptoms of pneumonia or breathlessness should be promptly evaluated at NCID.

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