French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn | Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images French health minister warns over Chinese virus Agnès Buzyn says response ’must be European.’

Europe needs to urgently address the outbreak of a mysterious Chinese virus in light of its potential to spread through air travel, French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn said Tuesday on French radio Europe 1.

The government has given "recommendations to airports" to deal with potential contamination in French infrastructure, she said.

"But ... the answer must be European because you can have a person who arrives in Brussels and then travels to France by road," she added, noting that both the World Health Organization — which has an emergency meeting Wednesday — and her health ministry are closely monitoring the situation.

For several days, concern has spread that airports could serve as "gateways" for this mysterious virus. Its symptoms are similar to respiratory diseases and pose complications for screening efforts.

To date, the virus has sickened over 200 people and claimed three lives, according to Chinese authorities. On Friday, U.S. authorities began screening travelers arriving at San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles airports from Wuhan or connecting cities.