A rapidly evolving health story broke in late December when a novel illness originating in Wuhan, China made the news. Reports of the number of infected people swiftly rose, and isolated cases of this new coronavirus — dubbed 2019-nCoV by scientists — have appeared in several countries due to international travel.

At this writing, almost 1,300 confirmed cases and over 40 deaths have occurred in China, according to an article in the New York Times.

Fortunately, public health officials in many countries, including the US, have put measures in place to help prevent further spread of the virus.

These measures include health screenings at major airports in the US for people traveling from Wuhan. In China, travel restrictions are in effect.

With information changing so quickly and every news report about the virus seeming to raise the stakes, you may be wondering how worried you should be.

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