Wuhan - A newborn in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, was confirmed to have been infected with the virus just 30 hours after being born, a local hospital said on Wednesday.
The infant, born on February 2, is the youngest person recorded as being diagnosed with the virus.
The mother had also tested positive for the virus before she gave birth, said the Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Medical experts said it may be a case of mother-to-child transmission of the novel coronavirus.
The baby, weighing 3.25 kg at birth, is now in stable condition and under observation.
The death toll from the coronavirus in mainland China crossed 560 on Thursday as experts intensified efforts to find a vaccine for a disease that has shut down Chinese cities and forced thousands more into quarantine around the world.
Nearly 260 cases have been reported in 31 other countries and regions outside China, according to a Reuters tally based on official statements from the authorities involved.
Experts will meet in Geneva from Feb 11-12 to set research and development priorities for coronavirus drugs, diagnostics and vaccines to combat the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
"There are no proven effective therapeutics for novel coronavirus," Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO emergencies programme, told a news conference.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a multinational WHO-led team would go to China "very soon" .