There are 53 confirmed cases in the US, and officials are calling on Congress to urgently pass billions of dollars on the response effort. President Donald Trump has said the situation is "well under control". However, virus fears have sent stock markets plunging for a second day in a row. More than 2,700 people have died and some 80,000 have been taken ill, mostly in China where the virus originated. Outside China, Iran, South Korea and Italy have reported the largest number of cases causing concern that the virus could be becoming a pandemic. On Tuesday, US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention experts warned Americans of the coming outbreak. "We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad," said Dr Nancy Messonnier of the National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. "It's not so much a question of if this will happen in this country any more but a question of when this will happen," she said, adding: "Disruption to everyday life might be severe."
