CHINA. Local authorities have said that a mysterious pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan is not Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission has over recent days carried out an investigation into a viral pneumonia of unknown cause. As of yesterday (5 January), a total of 59 cases of viral pneumonia with an unexplained diagnosis have been reported in the city. The investigation has established that some patients with the pneumonia were dealers or vendors in the Huanan Seafood Market.
Despite the as-yet-unknown cause of the outbreak, the health commission has ruled out influenza, bird flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and SARS.
The SARS outbreak of 2003 resulted in 8,098 cases and 774 deaths spread across 37 countries, and had severe repercussions for the global travel retail industry.
Traffic slumped at airports across the world, with passenger volumes at key locations such as Singapore Changi and Hong Kong International down by -50% to -70% during the worst of the crisis in April and May of that year.
From a retailer and luxury brand perspective, LVMH reported a -9.9% year-on-year drop in overall consolidated sales for the first half of 2003, with sales for DFS down over -20% compared to the first half of 2002.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association estimated the outbreak cost Asian economies over seven million jobs and slashed at least US$30 billion off growth estimates.
While the cause of this latest outbreak of pneumonia remains a mystery, Singapore Changi Airport has begun temperature screenings for arrivals from Wuhan and Hong Kong International Airport has put more thermal imaging cameras in place, according to The Straits Times.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is not yet recommending any specific measures or travel restrictions. The organisation added: “The symptoms reported among the patients are common to several respiratory diseases, and pneumonia is common in the winter season; however, the occurrence of [at their time of writing] 44 cases of pneumonia requiring hospitalisation clustered in space and time should be handled prudently.”
Despite the WHO not recommending any travel restrictions, the outbreak, coupled with the ongoing political crisis in the Middle East, will be of concern to the travel retail community, which is only too aware of the damage that can be caused by a combination of political turmoil in the Middle East and a viral disease outbreak.
