Coronavirus scare: Brisbane man tests negative for deadly SARS-like virus

A Brisbane man has tested negative to a deadly SARS-like illness after returning from Wuhan, China, where a new virus has killed nine and infected more than 400 people.

A BRISBANE man has tested negative to a deadly SARS-like illness after returning from Wuhan, China, where a new virus has killed nine and infected more than 400 people.

The man, who visited family in Wuhan, returned to Australia on January 8.

He developed a respiratory illness and was put into temporary isolation at home in case he tested positive to the new strain of coronavirus. The man recovered before the results of tests were known.

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A Queensland Health spokesman said on Wednesday afternoon tests were negative for the Wuhan virus.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has advised people returning from Wuhan who developed respiratory symptoms within 14 days of travel to see their general practitioner.

People are urged to call ahead and advise the clinic of their symptoms so precautions can be taken.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has advised people returning from Wuhan who developed respiratory symptoms within 14 days of travel to see their general practitioner. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

The new virus is believed to have spread from animals to humans through the Wuhan South China Seafood City Market, which sells chickens, bats, marmots and other wild animals.

Human to human contact of the virus has also been reported, with some health workers becoming infected.

Countries which have recorded cases of the novel coronavirus outside China, including the United States, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

The family of coronaviruses includes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which killed more than 700 people earlier this century.