Epidemiologic and Clinical Characteristics of Novel Coronavirus Infections Involving 13 Patients Outside Wuhan, China

Abstract

In December 2019, cases of pneumonia appeared in Wuhan, China. The etiology of these infections was a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV),^1,2 possibly connected to zoonotic or environmental exposure from the seafood market in Wuhan. Human-to-human transmission has accounted for most of the infections, including among health care workers.^3,4 The virus has spread to different parts of China and at least 26 other countries.¹ A high number of men have been infected, and the reported mortality rate has been approximately 2%, which is lower than that reported from other coronavirus epidemics including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS; mortality rate, >40% in patients aged >60 years)⁵ and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS; mortality rate, 30%).⁶ However, little is known about the clinical manifestations of 2019-nCoV in healthy populations or cases outside Wuhan. We report early clinical features of 13 patients with confirmed 2019-nCoV infection admitted to hospitals in Beijing.