On 9 January the European Centre for Disease Control in Stockholm published one its regular risk assessments. The three-page alert noted an obscure incident from across the globe: the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission had reported a mysterious cluster of 27 pneumonia cases on December 31, all linked to South China Seafood City, a wholesale fish and live animal market in Wuhan.
The Chinese authorities were trying to identify the pathogen, but they were clear that "no significant human-to-human transmission" had been observed, and no cases among healthcare workers reported.
Within two short months those 27 cases had exploded into a global pandemic with Europe its epicentre. As of Friday, 245,000 people were infected worldwide, with
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