(Yicai Global) Jan. 22 -- China's National Genomics Data Center has launched a database for the novel 2019-nCoV coronavirus which has caused the recent outbreak of pneumonia, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on its account on the popular WeChat messaging app today.

The registry collects virus-related statistics, information, academic literature and news from the World Health Organization, Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, US National Center for Biotechnology Information and other institutions, and also displays a variation analysis of different gene sequences of the pathogen, which originated in a live wild animal food market in central Wuhan, a major transit hub with 11 million residents.

Coronaviruses are a large family of common viruses that generally infect animals. They sometimes mutate and spread to humans, however, causing infections of the nose, sinuses or throat. Most are not dangerous, but some are deadly, with coughing, fever and shortness of breath turning into pneumonia. The name corona ('crown') describes their circular structure with its radiating filaments. A novel coronavirus is a new strain previously unseen in humans.

Editor: Ben Armour