The outbreak began in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, in early December and spread to other parts of the country. There also have been cases reported where the virus has spread along a four-person chain, indicating that it’s more easily transmissible than earlier thought. A report done for the International Journal of Infectious Diseases found it is at least 70% similar in its genetic makeup to the SARS virus but “appears clinically milder” in terms of severity, fatality rate and transmissibility. Of the first handful of deaths linked to the virus, at least some were people who already were seriously ill. The SARS outbreak began in late 2002 in Guangdong province and spread across the border to Hong Kong and beyond.

Source: Washington Post January 27, 2020 07:41 UTC