So far 59 cases have been confirmed, with seven patients in a critical condition KIM JU-SUNG/YONHAP VIA APA new strain of the family of viruses that caused the deadly Sars outbreak has been identified in China after almost 60 people were taken to hospital with suspected pneumonia. The unknown illness was identified in patients in Wuhan, a central city of more than 11 million people, over the past month. This fuelled fears of another viral epidemic, almost two decades after Sars — severe acute respiratory syndrome — infected more than 3,000 people worldwide in 2002, killing 774. Yesterday Chinese scientists announced that the respiratory disease was a new type of coronavirus, a family of viruses first identified in humans in the mid-1960s. Some are a cause of the common cold, while others found in animals including bats and camels have evolved into…

Source: The Times January 10, 2020 00:04 UTC