In early January, the World Health Organization was notified by China that 41 people in Wuhan, the country's seventh most populous city, had been hospitalized with what appeared to be a mystery strain of pneumonia. Many were reported to be workers in or visitors to a live animal market.
Chinese authorities have now made a preliminary determination of a new, previously undetected coronavirus as the cause of the respiratory illness, and over the weekend shared the virus's genetic sequencing to enable other countries to quickly diagnose potential new cases.
