Mystery pneumonia virus identified in China

WUHAN, CHINA — Scientists have identified a new virus as a possible cause for the mysterious pneumonia outbreak in China's Wuhan.

Citing researchers, China's Central Television reports that the pathogen is a coronavirus in the same family with the deadly MERS and SARS viruses.

Citing experts involved in the effort, the channel reports tests showed that an isolated sample to have appearances similar to the coronavirus.

The lab was also able to reconstruct the virus's genome sequence from 15 patient samples.

CNN reports that the symptoms of the mystery pneumonia include having difficulty breathing and fever, adding that the condition does not appear to be deadly.

According to CCTV, eight patients have been discharged from hospitals as of Thursday.

The pneumonia outbreak occurred in December and some of the patients were employed at a local seafood market.

According to Chinese authorities, there has been no clear evidence of a human to human infection and no fatalities have been reported.