China virus cases surpass SARS as big economic hit looms

Infection from China's coronavirus spread to more than 8,100 people globally on Thursday, surpassing the total from the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic in a fast-spreading health crisis forecast to deal a heavy blow to the world's second-largest economy.The vast majority of infections are in China where the virus originated in an illegal wildlife market in the city of Wuhan and has also claimed 170 lives, latest official data showed.The World Health Organization (WHO), which has so far held off declarin