Wuhan City coronavirus: an update

An update on the emerging viral infection from Wuhan City, in China: the disease was first picked up by the Chinese in early December and notified to the World Health Organisation at the start of January. The source appears to be a food market in Wuhan City, and the virus itself is a newly-identified member of a viral family called coronaviruses. Coronaviruses do infect humans, but scientists suspect that this one is normally carried by wild animals - possibly bats or, as a paper just published in Beijing speculates - possibly snakes. Bringing these animals to food markets is probably what triggered the outbreak. But how significant is the situation, and how far might the virus spread? Speaking with Chris Smith, Neil Ferguson explains how he tries to answer questions like these at Imperial College, London…