Coronavirus: UN and China ready to battle new disease spreading in Asia

A Chinese women is seen wearing facemask as she stands near the Beijing Railway Station before going home for the Chinese New Year holidays. The United Nations and China are taking steps to ensure it does not blow out to become a full-blown epidemic in the region.

BANGKOK: After Thailand detected its second case of a mysterious SARS-linked virus this week following confirmed cases in China and Japan, the United Nations and China are taking steps to ensure it does not blow out to become a full-blown epidemic in the region.

The UN's health agency says that the outbreak of the disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan is a never-before-seen strain belonging to a broad family of viruses ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses such as SARS.