Something new is taking over the Earth and it is not positive.

The coronavirus is the newest epidemic to plague the world and is a part of the novel coronavirus family that originated with animals. The infection started in Wuhan, China with people who worked or frequently shopped in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in the center of the city.

The biggest issue with the virus is that it causes pneumonia. Those that have been diagnosed with the disease are reported to have coughs, fever, breathingdifficulties, and in extreme cases,organ failure. Because this disease is viral, antibiotics do not work.

“The process is extremely expedited and our colleagues at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been working with us closely ever since we made the plan that we were going to do this in this way,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said when discussing shutting down facilities in China that may contain the virus.

She also mentions in a separate interview that as of right now, the coronavirus is not an eminent threat to the American people.

Many companies have closed locations within China to try and stop the spread of disease. Governmentofficials in China have shut downtravel to and from Wuhan to prevent the disease from spreading.

“It appears, based on the limiting information we have now, that for most people it should only cause a mild or moderate illness,” Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said. “But there’s a lot we don’t know, and even a mild illness, if it’s novel and becomes epidemic, can create a lot of fear and uncertainty.”

Many of the people that have passed away from the disease were in poor health prior to getting the virus. There have been close to20,000 confirmed cases with close to400 deaths, and there have been 11confirmedcasesintheUnitedStates.In hopes that a cure for the virus will be found, the search continues.