Children in China are falling ill with a mysterious form of pneumonia, and parents are concerned that the nation’s health authorities are covering up a new epidemic.

A health alert appeared on ProMED, a global surveillance platform for infectious disease outbreaks, Tuesday night of a mysterious illness emerging in China. Hospitals in Beijing, one of the most populous cities in the world with 22 million residents, and the northern province of Liaoning are overwhelmed, the notice said.

“In the early morning, Beijing Children’s Hospital was still overcrowded with parents and children whose children had pneumonia and came to seek treatment,” the notice reads.

One Beijing resident, named Mr. W, said: “Many, many are hospitalized. They don’t cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature (fever) and many develop pulmonary nodules.”

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