The first case of a new coronavirus that affected almost 300 people in Asia has been reported in a patient in Washington state.
Six people have died from the disease in Asia, officials said.
This was officially confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the first case of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or Wuhan coronavirus in the United States.
According to CDC and Washington state officials, the patient is a male US resident who arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma airport last January 15, 2020, before any health screenings for the Wuhan coronavirus began at US airports.
The CDC will be screening passengers for the virus at two more airports: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and O'Hare in Chicago. Airplane passengers from the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday are being screened for signs of the respiratory illness in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.
The Snohomish County, Washington State resident diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus was returning from China.
According to officials, the male in his 30s is "very healthy and he is currently being isolated at a medical center in the state "out of caution" and poses a small risk to the public. He reached out to local health authorities on Jan. 19 once he started experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms.
A clinical specimen was submitted to CDC and laboratory testing confirmed the diagnosis.
According to Nancy Messonnier, M.D., director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, "CDC has been proactively preparing for (the) introduction of this virus."
The outbreak of pneumonia caused by this novel coronavirus has been ongoing since December 2019.
The mystery disease was initially thought to be spreading from animal-to-person, but there are growing indications that limited person-to-person spread is happening.
John Wiesman, secretary of health for the state of Washington, said that the risk to the public is low.
The root of the outbreak was reported in the seafood and live-animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The mystery coronavirus is in the same family as SARS, MERS and the common cold often circulates among animals.
The victim did not have a fever at the time of arrival and the flight was not a direct flight from Wuhan. Also, the patient did not go to implicated animal markets in Wuhan, nor did he report close contact with an ill individual.
After reaching out to his health care provider, 2019-nCoV was confirmed on the 20th using samples shipped overnight.
The outbreak has spread from Wuhan to Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in China. Cases have been confirmed in South Korea, Thailand, Japan and elsewhere outside China.
CDC will be working closely with the state health department concerning this patient's care.
According to President Donald Trump, he was aware of the case and said the US has it under control.
Four hundred reported cases of the illness have evoked memories of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in China.
Older adults might be at increased risk for severe disease.
The travel warning to Wuhan has been upgraded from level 1 to level 2.
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