GENEVA, February 11. /TASS/. A two-day global forum to discuss measures against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), will begin its work in Geneva on Tuesday.

The event will bring together over 400 experts, leading scientists and senior health officials from various countries.

The main goal of the forum is to identify knowledge gaps and research priorities in order to produce scientific information and medical products most needed to minimize the impact of the 2019-nCoV outbreak.

The participants will try to determine the primary source of the infection, exchange biological samples and genome sequences. They are expected to lay down the global program for 2019-nCoV research.

"Harnessing the power of science is critical for bringing this outbreak under control," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week. "There are questions we need answers to, and tools we need developed as quickly as possible. WHO is playing an important coordinating role by bringing the scientific community together to identify research priorities and accelerate progress."

Russia will be represented by a delegation of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor).

On December 31, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan - a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. On January 7, Chinese experts identified the infecting agent - coronavirus 2019-nCoV. The virus spread to 24 more countries apart from China - Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency.

Currently, the total number of people infected with coronavirus reached 42,638 in China, 1,016 of them have died. Meanwhile, almost 4,000 people are said to have recovered from it.