In December 2019, a novel pneumonia caused by a previously \nunknown pathogen emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million \npeople in central China. The initial cases were linked to …
In December 2019, a novel pneumonia caused by a previously \nunknown pathogen emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million \npeople in central China. The initial cases were linked to \nexposures in a seafood market in Wuhan.1 As of January 27, \n2020, the Chinese authorities reported 2835 confirmed cases in \nmainland China, including 81 deaths. Additionally, 19 confirmed \ncases were identified in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and 39 \nimported cases were identified in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, \nUnited States, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia \nand Canada. The pathogen was soon identified as a novel \ncoronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is closely related to sever acute \nrespiratory syndrome CoV (SARS-CoV).2 Currently, there is no \nspecific treatment against the new virus. Therefore, identifying \neffective antiviral agents to combat the disease is urgently \nneeded.