CDC is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in almost 90 locations internationally, including in the United States. The virus has been named \u201cSARS-CoV-2\u201d and the disease it causes has been named \u201ccoronavirus disease 2019\u201d (abbreviated \u201cCOVID-19\u201d).<\/p>\n
On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a \u201cpublic health emergency of international concernexternal icon<\/span>\u201d (PHEIC). On January 31, 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nation\u2019s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19.<\/p>\n Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with\u00a0MERS-CoV,\u00a0SARS-CoV, and now with this new virus (named SARS-CoV-2).<\/p>\n The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. \u00a0All three of these viruses have their origins in bats. The sequences from U.S. patients are similar to the one that China initially posted, suggesting a likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir.<\/p>\n Early on, many of the patients at the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. Later, a growing number of patients reportedly did not have exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread. Person-to-person spread was subsequently reported outside Hubei and in countries outside China, including in the\u00a0United States. Some international\u00a0destinations now have apparent community spread\u00a0with the virus that causes COVID-19, as do some parts of the United States. Community spread means some people have been infected and it is not known how or where they became exposed. Learn what is known about the\u00a0spread of this newly emerged coronaviruses.<\/p>\n<\/a>Source and Spread of the Virus<\/h3>\n