A mysterious respiratory virus sweeping several Midwest states in the U.S., has sent more than a thousand children and teenagers to intensive care units for treatment over the past weeks.

The current influx of patients in hospitals indicates that the illness is likely to develop into a nationwide concern, according to authorities.

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The rare disease is yet to be identified although doctors suspect a rare respiratory virus called human enterovirus 68. Authorities at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention say that the said virus is related with the rhinovirus, which causes common cold.

Apparent victims of human enterovirus 68 are filling up ICUs across the Midwest, requiring to be placed on ventilators within just hours of contracting symptoms like runny nose, cough and sneezing. The virus is known to present worse symptoms among asthma sufferers.   

According to the director of the Division of Viral Virus at the Center for Disease Control Mark Pallansch, at least 10 states have reported suspected regional outbreaks of the human enterovirus 68. These include Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

Pallansch told CNN that the usually high number of hospitalizations may just be the "tip of the iceberg in terms of severe cases."  

In Kansas City where at least 475 children have received medical attention after complaining severe symptoms, doctors are calling the outbreak unprecedented.

"We've had to mobilize other providers, doctors, nurses. It's big," Dr. Mary Ann Jackson of Children's Mercy Hospital told CNN.

At the Children's Hospital Colorado in Denver, about 900 children came in presenting symptoms of the respiratory virus as of September 4. 86 were subsequently admitted with a handful ending up in ICU.

ABC News health editor Dr. Richard Besser warned of an impending spread of the illness to other states, citing the school opening as a very common time for outbreaks.

Authorities are still not sure why the rare enterovirus 68 broke out this year, sending children to emergency rooms and intensive care units by the hundred.

"We're in the middle of looking into this," Pallansch told CNN.

Vaccines for the virus are not yet developed. The public is warned to be vigilant with self-sanitation, indicating the need for regular hand washing. 

TagsHuman Enterovirus 68, respiratory outbreak, midwest virus, midwest virus 2014, medical news