Three separate research teams are to start work on developing potential vaccines against the new coronavirus that has so far claimed the lives of 18 people and is causing an epidemic across China.
A global coalition set up to fight diseases said on Thursday that the plan is to have at least one potential vaccine in clinical trials by June.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is co-funding the emergency projects, said the research will be conducted by the drug and vaccine developer, Moderna, working with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the US firm Inovio Pharma, and a team at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Richard Hatchett, CEPIs chief executive, noted that each of the three projects will test a distinct scientific approach to developing a preventative vaccine against the virus, known as nCoV-2019.
"Our aspiration with these technologies is to bring a new pathogen from gene sequence to clinical testing in 16 weeks," said Hatchett.
"There are no guarantees of success, but we hope this work could provide a significant and important step forward in developing a vaccine for this disease."
WHO: China virus not constituting global emergency
On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the new coronavirus infection in China and its spread to several other countries does not yet constitute an international emergency but it was tracking its evolution "every minute," Reuters reported.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement after its Emergency Committee of 16 independent experts reviewed the latest evidence and made its recommendations, which he accepted.
"Make no mistake, though, this is an emergency in China," Tedros told a news conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva, adding, "But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one."
The official added that there was "no evidence" at the moment of the virus spreading between humans outside of China.
"Until this time, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, but that doesnt mean it wont happen," Tedros said.
A new coronavirus that first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan has infected more than 600, mostly in China but cases have been detected as far away as the United States.
Authorities said Thursday that China was halting public transport and closing highway toll stations in two more cities in Hubei province, the epicenter of a deadly virus outbreak.
Chinas Hebei provincial health authority confirmed first death outside epicenter of virus outbreak.
The Health Commission of Hebei Province said in a statement that the patient, 80, died on Wednesday but was not confirmed to have been infected with the virus until Thursday.
The death toll from the outbreak now stands at 18.
Authorities also in Xiantao, a city of 1.5 million, closed 30 toll station entrances on the Hubei Expressway, prohibiting vehicles from entering the roadway.
Chibi city, which has a population of about 500,000, would also be suspending its public, rural, provincial and county passenger transport from midnight.
Chinas Huanggang, Xiantao and Ezhou cities have already joined Wuhan in shutting down railway stations and suspending long-distance buses as well as ferry services.
Singapore confirms first case of virus
Singapore on Thursday confirmed its first case of a new strain of coronavirus.
The 66-year old man who tested positive for the virus is a Chinese national and resident of the city of Wuhan.
He arrived in Singapore with his family on Jan. 20 and is currently in isolation in hospital. One of his travelling companions has also been hospitalized as a suspect case.
A 53-year-old woman, also a Chinese national from Wuhan, has come up positive in a preliminary test which is awaiting confirmation.
On Thursday, authorities said they would expand the screening to all of Singapores land and sea checkpoints.
"Given the high volume of international travel to Singapore, MOH (the health ministry) expects to see more suspect cases and imported cases," it added.
Chinese citizens in Vietnam have coronavirus
Two Chinese citizens in Vietnam were tested positive for coronavirus but are in "good condition, Vietnams health ministry said on Thursday.
The father and son were hospitalized on Wednesday after showing signs of fever and are being treated at the Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
The son had recently arrived in Vietnam from the central Chinese city of Wuhan and traveled to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the southern city of Nha Trang before being hospitalized.
"The ministry of health will continue to monitor for suspected symptoms at airports in Nha Trang and Danang where, many Chinese visitors arrive," deputy health minister Nguyen Truong Son said in a ministry statement.
"All visitors from infected areas will be closely tracked and must undergo health checks."
The virus has stoked fears of a pandemic similar to the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that started in China and killed about 800 people.
Singapore suffered 33 deaths due to SARS, making it one of the worst hit countries outside China.
The virus has also been confirmed in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.
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