New York (CNN Business) The popularity of a video game that teaches players about how diseases spread has grown sharply amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Now, the company is warning people to seek information on the disease from official sources, rather than relying on its game, Plague Inc.

Officials have been racing to contain the fast-moving coronavirus , as it has spread from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, China throughout Asia and across the world. Thousands of cases of disease had been confirmed — mostly in China, though a fourth case in the United States was confirmed Sunday morning.

"The current coronavirus outbreak is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people," Ndemic Creations, the maker of the game, said in a statement last week. "We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities."

The company linked to a page from the World Health Organization with information about coronavirus.

Ndemic Creations tweeted on January 24 that its website had gone offline due to high levels of gameplay. The company said it often sees a surge in new users amid new disease outbreaks, as people try to better understand how diseases operate and spread. The game's creator, James Vaughan, said the company's website and game servers are now back to being fully operational.

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