CDC Reports First Case of Chinese Coronavirus Detected in United States

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed the first case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States in the state of Washington.” The Coronavirus emerged in December, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and “has resulted in close to 300 confirmed human infections in China with several deaths reported.”

“Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing respiratory illness in people,… can evolve and infect people and then spread between people”. Examples of Coronavirses include Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Originally thought to be spreading from animals to people, the CDC reports “there are growing indications that limited person-to-person spread is happening, [but it is] unclear how easily this virus is spreading between people.” Despite the viruses spreading in China, the CDC “continues to believe the risk of [the Coronavirus] to the American public at large remains low at this time.”