In recent days, a strange virus has been rampant in China: One student has died, and several others have been hospitalized due to high fever. Additionally, a high school in Shaanxi Province, northern China, has been forced to close due to this unusual virus.
One of the students who died was taken to a hospital in Xi’an on April 10 for treatment. Thirty other students are suffering from high fevers caused by this strange virus, with some reaching over 39 degrees Celsius.
A local health official stated that after the fever outbreak, officials from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing arrived on-site to investigate.
Authorities have confirmed that this virus outbreak is not avian influenza (H5N1) or the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus, but they still have not identified this strange virus.
According to a source, the virus was detected after 19 students at an elementary school experienced high fevers on March 26, with several also having temperatures exceeding 39 degrees Celsius.
Another incident occurred this week when more than 400 students from Henan University of Science and Technology had to be hospitalized due to a high fever similar to the cases of the strange virus that affected the 19 elementary school students on March 26.
School officials reported that the fever outbreak followed students’ participation in a sports event under cold weather conditions. Some students also experienced high fevers above 39 degrees Celsius, but all were discharged after three days of treatment.
With the threat of avian influenza having claimed over 100 lives and the emergence of the SARS virus in 2003 causing 800 deaths worldwide, with China being the most heavily affected country, the appearance of this strange virus has awakened and warned the community to face yet another potential epidemic…
Ngoc Huyen
