Novel coronavirus
Pneumonia cases associated with novel coronavirus
Following the first reports of cases of acute respiratory syndrome in the Chinese Wuhan municipality at the end of December 2019, Chinese authorities have identified a novel coronavirus as the main causative agent. The outbreak has rapidly evolved affecting other parts of China and outside the country. Cases have now been detected in several countries in Asia, but also in Australia, Europe and North America. The first cases in the EU/EEA were confirmed in France. Further global spread is likely.
More on situation update, epidemiological curve and global distribution
The 2019-nCoV is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. Outbreaks of novel virus infections among people are always of public health concern, especially when there’s little knowledge about the characteristics of the virus, how it spreads between people, how severe are the resulting infections and how to treat them.
See Q&A about the 2019-nCoV
Human-to-human transmission has been confirmed but more information is needed to evaluate the full extent of this mode of transmission. The source of infection is unknown and could still be active.
This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation with ongoing outbreak investigations. ECDC is closely monitoring this outbreak and providing risk assessments to guide EU Member States and the EU Commission in their response activities.