The number of coronavirus cases grew, with at least 259 people dead and more than 11,000 people around the world sickened, the vast majority in mainland China, researchers at Johns Hopkins said late Thursday.
Only a handful of cases have been confirmed in the U.S., including those in Arizona, Washington state, Chicago and Southern California.
The previously unknown, flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in Wuhan city. A group of scientists said last week that snakes, particularly the Chinese krait and the Chinese cobra, may have been the source of the virus. But officials from the World Health Organization cast doubt on that theory, saying there was “no conclusive evidence.”
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually infect animals but can sometimes evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms in humans include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, which can progress to pneumonia.
The virus originated in the city of Wuhan, in the central Chinese province of Hubei, late last year. WHO is not recommending any broader restrictions on travel or trade at this time. Physicians recommended basic hygiene, including washing hands with soap and water and avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth.
— Reporting by Berkeley Lovelace Jr.; data visualization by John Schoen.
