The flu-like virus, which spawned in Wuhan, China in December, is more severe in older people because their immune systems are weaker (stock image)

Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at UNSW’s Kirby Institute, warned this could spell disaster in the event of a major outbreak Down Under.

‘It is going to manifest with a greater impact,’ Professor MacIntyre told the Sydney Morning Herald. READ MORE