The strikingly fast process of identifying a brand new virus

On Tuesday (Jan 21), the US learned that it has a new virus on its shores: Researchers in Washington state identified the first US case of what is being called the Wuhan virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Chinese researchers first identified the virus in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where they suspect people contracted the virus from animals at a market. The first indicator is if all typical tests fail, says Kelly Wroblewski, the director of infectious disease at the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL).