Chinese officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to contain an outbreak of pneumonia in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
中国官员和世界卫生组织正在试图遏制中国中部城市武汉的一场肺炎爆发。
Health experts suspect that the pneumonia cases could be linked to a new form of coronavirus. The virus is blamed for at least one death.
卫生专家怀疑这些肺炎病例可能跟一种新型冠状病毒有关。这种病毒已经导致至少一人死亡。
The WHO has said there may have been limited human-to-human transmission of the virus within families.
世卫组织表示,这种病毒在家庭内部可能存在有限的人传人的情况。
Chinese officials say a seafood market in Wuhan is thought to be at the center of the outbreak. Officials said one woman may have gotten the virus from her husband, who worked at the market. The two are among 41 people shown to have pneumonia thought to be caused by the virus.
Officials said some of the sick have denied visiting the market.
有关官员表示,有些患者否认去过这家市场。
The outbreak comes two weeks before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, when many of China's 1.4 billion people will be traveling to their hometowns or overseas.
这次爆发发生在中国农历新年的前两周,届时中国14亿人口中的很多人都将返乡过年或是出国旅行。
WHO and Chinese officials are taking steps to ensure the disease does not spread.
世卫组织和中国官员正在采取措施确保这种疾病不会蔓延。
The officials in Wuhan confirmed that Thailand has quarantined a Chinese woman. It is the first case of the mystery strain of coronavirus to be found outside of China. The woman is said to have come from Wuhan.
The coronavirus is from a family of viruses that can cause both the common cold and more serious diseases.
这种冠状病毒来自于一种可能导致普通感冒和更严重疾病的病毒家族。
On Wednesday, a Hong Kong health official told reporters that the threat of human-to-human transmission remains low. Chuang Shuk-kwan said that doctors and hundreds of other people have been in close contact with infected individuals and have not been infected themselves. She spoke to reporters after returning from a visit to Wuhan.
With the Lunar New Year set to begin on January 25, the WHO called on Thai officials and the public to be on guard against the virus. Thai health officials announced Wednesday they were increasing security at airports.
The outbreak in Wuhan has made some in China think of SARS, short for severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS is a coronavirus that first struck southern China in late 2002. It then spread to more than 24 countries, killing nearly 800 people.