In just three months time, a newly organized vaccine research group at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will likely be testing the first of a number of potential experimental vaccines against the new SARS-like coronavirus that is spreading in China and beyond.

Three months from gene sequence to initial human testing would be the fastest the agency has ever gotten such a vaccine off the ground, according to Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within NIH.

'I told them, "you are going to have your baptism of fire, folks",' Fauci said of his inaugural address to the group last week.

The outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, as of Friday had infected more than 800 people in China and killed 26.

Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal and the United States.

Chinese scientists were able to quickly identify the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus and officials posted it publicly within a few days, allowing scientific research teams to get to work right away.

Three months from gene sequence to initial human testing would be the fastest the National Institutes of Health has ever gotten such a vaccine off the ground, said Anthony Fauci (pictured), the director of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within NIH

Fauci (left) and Assistant US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kadlec (right) participated in an all-senator briefing of the coronavirus outbreak at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Friday on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

With the genetic code in hand, scientists can start vaccine development work without needing a sample of the virus.

During the deadly 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, it took US scientists 20 months to go from genetic sequence to the first phase of human trials. By that time, the outbreak was under control.

This time, research groups worldwide are already executing plans to test vaccines, treatments and other countermeasures to stop the newly identified virus from spreading globally.

They are attacking from several angles, with global health and epidemic response agencies hoping at least one treatment will be in human trials within a few months.

Fauci's agency is partnering with US biotech Moderna Inc, which specializes in vaccines based on ribonucleic acid (RNA) - a chemical messenger that contains instructions for making proteins.

That team hopes to make an RNA vaccine based on one of the crown-like spikes on the surface of the coronavirus that gives the family of viruses their name, an approach that, unlike many vaccines, would not expose people to the virus.

At the University of Queensland in Australia, scientists backed by the global health emergency group the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said they are working on what they describe as a 'molecular clamp' vaccine approach.

The technology adds a gene to viral proteins to stabilize them and trick the body into thinking it is seeing a live virus and create antibodies against it.

Keith Chappell, an expert in the University's school of chemistry and molecular biosciences, said the technology is designed as 'a platform approach to generate vaccines against a range of human and animal viruses'.

It has already shown promising results in lab tests on other dangerous viruses such as Ebola and the coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)- a cousin of SARS and the Wuhan virus.

The outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan (pictured) in December, as of Friday had infected more than 800 people in China and killed 26

Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal and the United States (pictured passengers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport)

Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan on Saturday

Novavax, which already has a vaccine in development against MERS, says it is now working on one for the Wuhan coronavirus.

Scientists also are turning to infection-fighting proteins known as monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs, that were developed against the SARS and MERS coronaviruses.

The hope is that similarities with the Wuhan virus will offer enough overlap in the antibodies to help people infected in the China outbreak.

Vir Biotechnology Chief Scientific Officer Herbert Virgin said his company has a library of monoclonal antibodies that have shown some success against SARS and MERS in lab tests.

Some of these antibodies have been shown to neutralize coronaviruses, Virgin said, and 'may have the potential to treat and prevent (the) Wuhan coronavirus'.

The third US case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in California after diagnoses in Chicago and Washington - while Canada confirmed it's first case Saturday.

Orange County Health Care Agency announced that a patient in California had tested positive for novel coronavirus.

The agency said the patient had traveled from Wuhan and reached out to the health care agency prior to being diagnosed. They were given guidance to avoiding exposing the public to the virus while waiting for test results.

'The individual has now been transported to a local hospital and is in isolation in good condition,' added the agency who did not identify the patient.

'In consultation with the CDC and the California Department of Public Health, the HCA is following up directly with all individuals who have had close contact with the case and are at risk of infection.'

The third US case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in California after after diagnoses in Chicago and Washington - while Canada confirmed it's first case Saturday

The CDC advises that casual contact, such as being in the same grocery store as an infected person is unlikely to spread the virus, and that 'the current risk of local transmission remains low'.

Canada confirmed its first case Saturday, as a man in his 50s was quarantined in Toronto.

News of the virus spreading into North America comes as the US government warns it won't have enough seats on a rescue plane to evacuate all US citizens from Wuhan amid a deadly outbreak of coronavirus - and the jet won't even arrive for two days.

The US consulate is reaching out to all Americans registered as living in Wuhan - considered to be the epicenter of the deadly outbreak - to offer them a seat on a charter flight scheduled for Tuesday.

A source familiar with the chartered evacuation flight told CNN that roughly 1,000 Americans live in Wuhan, and those who choose to leave will be forced to pay for their spot on the Boeing 767 jet, which carries around 230 people.

The State Department released a statement late on Saturday which read: 'The Department of State is making arrangements to relocate its personnel stationed at the US Consulate General in Wuhan to the United States.

'We anticipate that there will be limited capacity to transport private US citizens on a reimbursable basis on a single flight leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on January 28, 2020 and proceeding directly to San Francisco.'

Since space is limited, the government says that 'priority will be given to individuals at greater risk from coronavirus'.