Singapore Says Pneumonia Case Not Linked to Wuhan Outbreak

(Bloomberg) -- A case of pneumonia in Singapore in a three-year-old girl with a history of travel to Wuhan is not linked to the outbreak in the Chinese city, Singaporean officials said.

The cause of the girl’s pneumonia is Respiratory Syncytial Virus, a common cause for childhood respiratory infection, according to a statement from Singapore’s Ministry of Health. The case has also tested negative for SARS and MERS-CoV, the ministry said.

The World Health Organization is monitoring the outbreak of a mysterious lung infection in Wuhan and is in active communication with its counterparts in China, where an investigation is underway to determine the cause of a pneumonia outbreak. As of Friday, 44 people had been diagnosed with pneumonia, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said.

The girl in the suspected case in Singapore had not visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market associated with the Wuhan cluster, the health ministry had earlier said.

“As medical practitioners are on the lookout for cases with pneumonia who have recently returned from Wuhan, Singapore is likely to see more suspect cases that will need to be investigated for possible links to the Wuhan cluster,” the MOH said. “MOH will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

--With assistance from Ranjeetha Pakiam.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joanna Ossinger in Singapore at jossinger@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Melissa Cheok

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