Coronavirus, whose formal name is COVID-19, has been the subject
of much media attention since the first outbreak in Wuhan, China,
late last year. Just like recent outbreaks of the swine flu,
the avian flu, SARS and the West Nile virus, each new
“bug” creates fear surrounding a previously unknown
threat. While there are tens of thousands of cases in China,
as of February 19, 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the
U.S. The confirmed cases were limited to seven states located
on the perimeter of the country.
According to the CDC, coronaviruses are a large family of
viruses that are common in many different species of animals,
including camels, cattle, cats and bats. Rarely, animal
coronaviruses can infect and then spread between people.
