Novel Coronavirus Cases in China Pass SARS at Its Peak

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM

Nearly 6000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have been reported in China, according to World Health Organization numbers released on Wednesday. The outbreak has officially surpassed the 2002–2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, which totaled 5327 cases in China, the Associated Press reports.

Over 9200 additional novel coronavirus cases in China are suspected, the WHO reports. There have been 132 related deaths, all in China. Outside of China, 68 cases have been confirmed. A WHO committee will reconsider whether to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Thursday.

Meanwhile in the Lancet, researchers report on a genomic analysis of 2019-nCoV from nine patients in Wuhan, China, all of whom had a connection to the Huanan seafood market. Genetic sequences from the patients' samples were almost identical, which indicates that the virus emerged in humans very recently, the researchers note. Additionally, the virus appears most similar to two SARS-like coronaviruses that originated in bats. The researchers say that taken together, their findings suggest that bats are the original host and an animal sold at the market might have served as an intermediate host that facilitated transmission to humans.

Also in the Lancet, researchers report on a cluster of 99 patients with 2019-nCoV at a Wuhan hospital. Roughly half had exposure to the market. Overall, 11 patients died — all from multiple organ failure following acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Separately, a New England Journal of Medicine study offers more evidence supporting person-to-person transmission of the virus. Of 425 cases studied, over half of those with onset in December were linked to the market, while just 9% of those occurring in January were thus linked. Overall, the mean incubation period was 5.2 days.