The number of new cases of viral pneumonia associated with the food market in China has risen to forty-four, according to local health authorities, including eleven critical, according to the Associated Press.

The Commission added that all cases are being treated in isolation, and 121 people have been in close contact with these cases under supervision.

Authorities said the most common symptom was fever, with shortness of breath as well as pneumonia in "a limited number" of cases, without further details.

The Commission pointed out that there was no evidence of infection transmission from one person to another.

Most of the cases were detected in a seafood market on the outskirts of the vast southern city of Wuhan, where the exhibits include wild animals that transmit dangerous viruses to humans.