Health officials are working fast to try and understand this new coronavirus. Hu Shanlian, Professor of Health Economics at the School of Public Health at Fudan University in Shanghai, was at the forefront of the SARS epidemic more than a decade ago. Since that time, he says China has made great strides in managing public health crises.

Professor Hu adds, it will take a while for officials to learn the exact origins of this coronavirus but overall, China has had a much faster response to this outbreak compared to SARS.