Scientists in China are also closing in on the source of the aggressive new germ — bats. And it supports the theory that something in the Huanan market served as a bridge for the virus to cross between bats and humans. In the early stages of the outbreak, each infected person who became ill is estimated to have infected 2.2 others, according to the study in the New England Journal of Medicine. That makes the new coronavirus roughly as communicable as was the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed 50 million and became the deadliest pandemic in recorded history. On Tuesday, American officials exhorted Chinese officials to share their trove of biological samples and genetic findings with U.S. and international researchers.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 30, 2020 01:38 UTC