Experts from a British research institute warn of the recent spread of the mysterious virus in China • 1,700 people have been infected so far

• Fear of virus spread // Photo: GettyImages

The rattle siren was too early? Researchers in the UK are warning of the spread of the Chinese virus nCov-2019, even though the Chinese authorities have claimed that the virus is under control and that it is a weak strain. According to data from the CNN Research Institute, the virus has so far spread across East Asia, infecting at least 1,700 people.

After several new cases were discovered, in Thailand and Japan, the British research institute expressed concern that the virus - which belongs to the SARS and MARS virus family and could cause respiratory disease, could infect not only the carriers, which could lead to its much wider and faster outbreak.

Nir Ferguson, an epidemiologist from the British Imperial College commented on the revelations, saying: "Once a sick person gets on the plane, all passengers with whom they are at risk." Ferguson added that the virus is "still a puzzle, unknown to him enough to understand how it passes, what clinical features of the disease it causes and how much the World Health Organization needs to get into the picture."

In the meantime, the United States began conducting medical examinations for some 60,000 Chinese residents of China, where the disease burst into the United States, to see if they carry the virus.