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 The outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays in late
January, when many of China's 1.4 billion people will be traveling
to their home towns or abroad. The World Health Organization and
Chinese authorities are taking steps to ensure the disease does not
spread further.
WHO has said there may have been limited human-to-human transmission
of the new coronavirus in China within families. [L8N29J2O2]
And authorities in Wuhan confirmed on Wednesday that a married
couple were among 41 people diagnosed with pneumonia believed to be
caused by the new virus.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission did not say in the statement
whether the couple represented an instance of human-to-human
transmission. But it said the husband, who worked at a seafood
market suspected of being at the epicenter of the outbreak, was the
first to fall ill, and that his wife did not have any exposure to
the market.
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Some of the other people diagnosed also denied visiting the market,
the commission said.
The authorities in Wuhan also confirmed that a Chinese woman
quarantined in Thailand, the first case of the mystery strain of
coronavirus to be detected outside of China, had come from Wuhan.
The State Department's notice referred to an alert by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging citizens in China
traveling to Wuhan to avoid contact with animals, animal markets or
animal products, among other precautions.
It also asked citizens those who had visited Wuhan and feel sick to
seek medical care.
(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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