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In virus outbreak, fretting over a name that might go viral

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (CDC via AP, File) — This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (CDC via AP, File) This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (CDC via AP, File)

By MIKE STOBBE / Associated Press Medical Writer February 4, 2020 3 min read

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Coronavirus COVID-19

In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, photo, medical workers in a protective suit help patients who diagnosed with the coronaviruses as they arrive at a temporary hospital which transformed from an exhibition center in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Ten more people were sickened with a new virus aboard one of two quarantined cruise ships with some 5,400 passengers and crew aboard, health officials in Japan said Thursday, as China reported 73 more deaths and announced that the first group of patients were expected to start taking a new antiviral drug. (Chinatopix via AP)

A worker wearing protective gears sprays disinfectant as a precaution on a train against the new coronavirus at Suseo Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. China and South Korea on Tuesday reported more cases of a new viral illness that has been concentrated in North Asia but is causing global worry as clusters grow in the Middle East and Europe. (Lee Ji-eun/Yonhap via AP)

A health worker wears protective suit at the infectious disease clinic in Zagreb, Croatia, where the first coronavirus case in Croatia is hospitalized, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. Croatia confirmed its first case of coronavirus in a man who had been to Milan, the capital of Lombardy, Italy. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

A woman wearing mask, walks on a street in Hong Kong, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. More than 100 Hong Kong passengers from the virus-hit cruise ship Diamond Princess arrived home from Japan early Thursday on a Cathay Pacific plane chartered by the Hong Kong government. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man wearing mask, attends a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. The death of a young doctor who was reprimanded for warning about China's new virus triggered an outpouring Friday of praise for him and fury that communist authorities put politics above public safety. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

In this Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, photo, medical workers transfer a patient in the isolation ward for 2019-nCoV patients at a hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. The number of confirmed cases of the new virus has risen again in China while fatalities increased to 722 on Saturday, Feb. 8, as the ruling Communist Party faced anger and recriminations from the public over the death of a doctor who was threatened by police after trying to sound the alarm about the disease over a month ago. (Chinatopix via AP)

People wearing masks, walk in a subway station, in Hong Kong, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. Hong Kong on Friday confirmed 25 cases of a new virus that originated in the Chinese province of Hubei. According to the latest figures, 233 new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed globally, Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Admissions told a news conference. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

In this Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, photo, workers pack surgical masks at a factory in Suining city in southwest China's Sichuan province. The number of confirmed cases of the new virus has risen again in China while fatalities increased to 722 on Saturday, as the ruling Communist Party faced anger and recriminations from the public over the death of a doctor who was threatened by police after trying to sound the alarm about the disease over a month ago. (Chinatopix via AP)

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2020, file photo, an employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea. Halting the spread of a new virus that has killed hundreds in China is difficult in part because important details about the illness and how it spreads are still unknown. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (CDC via AP, File)

A volunteer stands in front of a Communist Party flag as he takes the temperature of a scooter driver at a roadside checkpoint in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. China sent medical workers and equipment to a newly built hospital, infused cash into financial markets and further restricted people's movement in sweeping new steps Monday to contain a rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact. (Chinatopix via AP)

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, file photo released by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan, China, are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Indonesia. Health authorities are scrambling to halt the spread of a new virus that has killed hundreds in China. But with important details about the illness and how it spreads still unknown, officials and medical personnel are struggling. (Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, photo, medical staff prepare beds at a temporary hospital which transformed from an exhibition center for accepting patients who diagnosed with the coronaviruses in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Ten more people were sickened with a new virus aboard one of two quarantined cruise ships with some 5,400 passengers and crew aboard, health officials in Japan said Thursday, as China reported 73 more deaths and announced that the first group of patients were expected to start taking a new antiviral drug. (Chinatopix via AP)

Students line up to sanitize their hands to avoid contact with coronavirus before their morning class at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. China on Tuesday reported 25 more deaths from the new viral disease, as the U.S. government prepared to fly Americans out of the city at the center of the outbreak. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

State Commission of Quality Management are checking up the health of members who return after business tour in foreign countries and inspecting and quarantining goods being delivered via the borders in a responsible way at the Pyongyang Airport in Pyongyang, DPRK, on Saturday, Feb., 1st, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2020, file photo, a policeman uses a digital thermometer to take a driver's temperature at a checkpoint at a highway toll gate in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. Cutting off access to entire cities with millions of residents to stop a new virus outbreak is a step few countries other than China would consider, but it is made possible by the ruling Communist Party's extensive social controls and experience fighting the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS. (Chinatopix via AP)

Travelers wear face masks as they wait their flight at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Face masks sold out and temperature checks at airports and train stations became the new norm as China strove Tuesday to control the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has reached four other countries and territories and threatens to spread further during the Lunar New Year travel rush. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Providence Regional Medical Center Everett where a man with the first case of coronavirus in the United States is being treated on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, in Everett, Wash. A U.S. resident who recently returned from a trip to central China has been diagnosed with the new virus. Health officials said Tuesday that the man returned to the Seattle area in the middle of last week after traveling to the Wuhan area, where the outbreak began. (Olivia Vanni/The Herald via AP)

Health Officials in hazmat suits check body temperatures of passengers arriving from the city of Wuhan Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, at the airport in Beijing, China. Nearly two decades after the disastrously-handled SARS epidemic, China's more-open response to a new virus signals its growing confidence and a greater awareness of the pitfalls of censorship, even while the government is as authoritarian as ever. (AP Photo Emily Wang)

People wear masks on a bus in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2018. China on Tuesday reported 25 more deaths from a new viral disease, as the U.S. government prepared to fly Americans out of the city at the center of the outbreak. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A worker wearing a hazardous materials suit gives directions to a passenger at a subway station in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. China broadened its unprecedented, open-ended lockdowns to encompass around 25 million people Friday to try to contain a deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds, though the measures' potential for success is uncertain. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A traveler wearing a face mask walks into the arrivals area at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. China closed off a city of more than 11 million people Thursday, halting transportation and warning against public gatherings, to try to stop the spread of a deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds and spread to other cities and countries in the Lunar New Year travel rush. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

In this photo provided by Chen Yanxi, a nearly-deserted expressway is seen in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. China's attempt to stop a deadly virus by cutting off access to cities with 25 million inhabitants is a step few other governments would consider but is made possible by the ruling Communist Party's extensive social controls and experience fighting the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS. (Chen Yanxi via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) – West Nile virus, Lyme disease, Ebola virus.

And now: 2019 nCoV?

“Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?” said Trevor Hoppe, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who has studied the history of disease names.

The name, which stands for 2019 novel coronavirus, has been assigned to the virus behind the outbreak of flu-like illnesses that started in China late last year.

Scientists are still learning about the new virus, so it’s hard to come up with a good name, Hoppe said. The current one is likely temporary, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.