Discussion | The current coronavirus outbreak in China is the third epidemic caused by coronavirus in the 21st century, already surpassing SARS and MERS in the number of individuals infected. 1 The higher number of infections may be attributable to late identification of the etiologic agent and the ability of the host to shed the infection while asymptomatic, rather than to greater infectivity of the virus compared with SARS. 3 This case series provides information on the epidemiology of the disease outside Wuhan. Most patients visited or came in close contact with individuals from Wuhan, but 1 patient did not, suggesting possible active viral transmission in Beijing. Close monitoring will be needed to prevent large-scale spread of the virus to other cities in China.Most of the infected patients were healthy adults; only 1 patient was older than 50 years and 1 younger than 5 years. This might be related to limited travel by younger and older patients rather than decreased susceptibility of these populations. Recovery of all patients suggests milder infections. The study is limited by lack of detailed data after transfer. These data contribute information to understanding the early clinical manifestations of 2019-nCoV.
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