New Deadly Virus Warning Issued, Coronavirus [PHOTO]: CDC Cautions U.S. Health Officials to Stay Alert

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a warning to state and local health officials a possible outbreak of infections from a virus called coronavirus. It was previously unseen in humans but has recently struck 14 people ill and has killed eight. The CDC's Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report reported that most of the infections had originally been documented in the Middle East but have since had three confirmed cases in Britain. These findings suggest that the virus can pass from person to person as opposed to the original theory of passing from animal to humans.

Coronavirus is part of the same family of viruses including the common cold and the SARS virus, which first emerged in Asia in 2003. This new virus is only similar to SARS in that they both are found in bats.

There have yet to be any cases in the United States reported and this news is to hopefully keep it that way. The CDC has concluded that the infections in Britain stemmed from a 60[year-old man who had recently returned from travelling to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, developing a type of repertory illness in January of this year. Test samples of this man showed he had contracted coronavirus as well as swine flu, or H1N1 virus. He had consequently passed the infection to two members of his household. One, a male who already had an underlying health issue, became ill in February, succumbed to the illness and died. The other was a healthy adult female who developed symptoms but did not need hospitalization and has since recovered.

Symptoms of the coronavirus include "severe acute respiratory illness with fever, cough and shortness of breath." Travel restrictions related to the coronavirus have not been issued by the CDC nor the World Health Organization. Luckily, CDC has set up a special website with updates on the infections HERE.