‘Do Not Cover up Outbreaks:’ Experts Call for Transparency After China’s Pneumonia Outbreak

China's top Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) expert Zhong Nanshan checks on one of his patients during his rounds in the infectious disease ward, at the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, on June 10, 2005. Goh Chai Hin/AFP via Getty Images

Public health experts outside of mainland China are calling on Chinese authorities for transparency, after a mysterious outbreak of viral pneumonia was reported to have already infected 59 people since December in the Chinese city of Wuhan. On Jan. 5, 7 of the 59 cases were said to be “severe.”

The experts say that efforts to cover up outbreaks can have serious consequences for disease control for China’s neighboring regions.