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Can China stop a killer virus spreading?

A mysterious new virus has emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan and is rapidly being identified in patients across the globe.

A mysterious new virus has emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan and is rapidly being identified in patients across the globe. Signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Hundreds have been infected and some deaths have already been reported. This isn’t the first potentially deadly virus to emerge from China. In 2002/3, the Sars virus killed nearly 800 people globally and belonged to the same family of virus as the current outbreak. At the time, officials in Beijing were criticised for not acting fast enough and failing to be open and honest about the extent of the crisis. But how much has China’s approach changed? And is the world ready for the next global pandemic, whenever it may come? Celia Hatton and her panel of guests explore whether China has learned its lessons when it comes to dealing with the outbreak of deadly diseases.

Available now

53 minutes

Last on

Sat 25 Jan 2020 04:06GMT

Contributors

Dr Ngozi Erondu - Associate Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House

Dr Xi Chen - Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, Yale University

Susan Jakes - ΜύEditor of ChinaFile and Senior Fellow at Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations

Dr Jennifer Nuzzo - Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Also featuring:

Adam Kucharski - Associate Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Dr Margaret Harris - Spokesperson, World Health Organisation Ebola response

Μύ

Picture

A vendor wearing a protective mask waits for customers at a stall selling Lunar New Year decorations at a market in China's eastern Anhui province. Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images

Broadcasts

  • Fri 24 Jan 2020 09:06GMT
  • Sat 25 Jan 2020 00:06GMT
  • Sat 25 Jan 2020 03:06GMT
  • Sat 25 Jan 2020 04:06GMT

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