(CNN) A mysterious pneumonia outbreak that has struck dozens of people and put China on edge is from the same family of viruses as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to Chinese scientists.

They've found a new coronavirus in 15 of 57 patients with the illness in the central city of Wuhan, Hubei province saying it has been preliminarily identified as the pathogen for the outbreak, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday.

The report said the whole genome sequence of the virus has been obtained, and a sample isolated from one of the patients showed "typical coronavirus appearance" under an electron microscope.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Symptoms can range from fever and coughing to kidney failure, and in some cases lead to death. Some coronaviruses transmit easily from person to person, while others do not.

The SARS virus, a coronavirus like the common cold, is shown in pink in this electron micrograph image from the Centers for Disease Control.

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