The Wuhan Coronavirus in Germany

The Wuhan coronavirus has reached Germany. A German national, working for a German company, caught the virus from a Chinese woman he was in contact with about a week ago. The woman was in Germany on business. There was a seminar in which the woman instructed an assembly of Germans, including the man who caught the virus.

On her way home to Beijing, the woman fell ill, and a week later, the German national fell ill too. He caught a fever, and was coughing quite badly. However, there was never any great concern. He recovered on his own. But when he learned that the Chinese woman had been diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus, he thought it best to check with a doctor to see if he had in fact been suffering from it himself. As it turned out, the tests proved positive.

This story is interesting, because it tells us for sure that the virus is contagious before the infected person is showing any symptoms. It tells us that it spreads through human to human contact, and it confirms the fact that it has the symptoms of a severe flu.

What happens next will be interesting to follow. Will this man's colleagues and family catch the decease as well? And what about the passengers on the plain the woman took back to Beijing? Many of them must have been Europeans. Are we about to see a widespread outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus in Europe? If nothing much happens over the next couple of days, we're safe. Otherwise, we might see this spread through Europe in much the same way that it has been spreading through China.

By Laurent ERRERA from L'Union, France - Airbus A320-200 Airbus Industries (AIB) "House colors" F-WWBA - MSN 001, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link