WUHAN PNEUMONIA OUTBREAK ALERTS S. KOREA

[Anchor Lead]

A Chinese woman living in Korea recently developed the symptoms of pneumonia after visiting Wuhan, putting health authorities on alert.

[Pkg]

A 36-year-old woman of Chinese nationality who works in Gyeonggi-do Province visited the Chinese city of Wuhan for five days starting on December 13th. On December 31st, after her arrival in Korea, she developed a cough and swollen glands. On January 2nd, the woman visited a hospital for the first time due to a cough and a fever. Five days later, the hospital that confirmed her pneumonia symptoms reported the case to health authorities. Based on the fact that the woman developed her symptoms within 14 days after visiting Wuhan and on the results of her chest X-ray, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the woman's symptoms were similar to those of an unidentified viral pneumonia that recently broke out in China. The woman is currently receiving treatment in an isolated ward at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Health authorities say the woman's results of nine respiratory virus tests including MERS and influenza all came back negative. An investigation has revealed that the woman did not visit the seafood market where pneumonia cases originated, nor did she have direct contact with wild animals.

[Soundbite] PARK HYE-KYUNG(KOREA CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION) : "The epidemiological factor that the patient visited Wuhan and the clinical factor of pneumonia symptoms led us to conclude that this case is related to the unidentified virus in Wuhan."

China says the mysterious viral illness is not transmitted among people and that the cause of the massive outbreak has yet to be found.

[Soundbite] KIM WOO-JOO(PROF., KOREA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL) : "Although the possibility of human-to-human transmission is low, people who travel to Wuhan, China, or who develop a fever and a cough within two weeks after visiting China must report to a public health center as soon as possible."

Korea's health authorities plan to step up quarantine inspections for arriving passengers and maintain the lowest disease alert level for the time being while taking additional measures according to the situation.