WUHAN, CHINA — Cases of novel coronavirus infection in China have tripled over the weekend, sparking global concerns about an outbreak.<br /><br />China's state-run Xinhua News reports that there are 218 confirmed cases, mostly in the city of Wuhan. The BBC reports that three have died and nine are in critical condition.<br /><br />China Daily yesterday reported that a fourth fatality occurred in Wuhan, where 15 medical workers have caught the disease as they try to help the patients.<br /><br />Millions of Chinese are traveling in the country to celebrate the Lunar New Year vacation, which will begin on Friday.<br /><br />The BBC reports that the virus has spread, with five cases in Beijing, one in Shanghai and one in Shenzhen.<br /><br />Outside of China, four cases have been confirmed, two in Thailand, one in Japan and a new case in South Korea.<br /><br />The BBC reports that in each case, the infected person had recently visited Wuhan before falling ill.<br /><br />Scientists believe the infection's main source is animal-based and have advised people not to handle live chickens without protection and to thoroughly cook meat and eggs.<br /><br />However, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reports that health officials have confirmed that human to human transmission has occurred in two cases.<br /><br />According to the BBC, genetic analysis has identified the pathogen as a SARS-like coronavirus strain and one of the seven coronaviruses capable of infecting humans.<br /><br />According to the WHO, scientists are calling the pathogen 2019-nCoV.<br /><br />The pneumonia-like infection causes coughing, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties and fever.
