During an interview with CGTN, Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), shared the latest information on the strain that is circulating in the capital.

Wu said,“It clearly indicated the virus strain is a major epidemic strain in the European countries. So, it is from outside of China brought to Beijing.”

While the strain is prevalent in Europe it could have come from other regions.

“Maybe from the United States or from Russia,”said Wu. “So, the European strain is very prevalent in many, many different countries. It is not in China,” he said.

Local health officials found the virus on swabs taken from a cutting board used by a vendor of imported salmon. 

Chinese epidemiologists are trying to determine whether people caught the virus from imported seafood and meats, or whether locally infected people contaminated the food.