U.S. intelligence official disputes news report about military warning about coronavirus in November

A top U.S. military intelligence official is refuting a report by ABC News and others that states his agency issued a report back in November 2019 warning about a deadly, fast-spreading novel coronavirus in China posing a risk to American troops in the region. 

The ABC report was purportedly issued by the National Center for Medical Intelligence, part of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, and cited at least two unnamed officials with knowledge of the assessment.  

Information for the report was purportedly gathered through intercepted wire and computer transmissions.

"As a matter of practice the National Center for Medical Intelligence does not comment publicly on specific intelligence matters," wrote NCMI Director Col. R. Shane Day. “However, in the interest of transparency during this current public health crisis, we can confirm that media reporting about the existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is not correct. No such NCMI product exists."

China reported the first case in late December 2019. 

Just the News requested a comment Thursday morning from ABC News on Day’s statement. The news gathering agency did not respond before this story was posted. 

The ABC News report also states the White House and top officials throughout the federal government were briefed several times about the report, based on the news gathering agency’s sources. The report also states President Trump was briefed on the report in January.