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The
patient, identified only as a man in his 30s, fell ill over the
weekend after traveling to his hometown in China and was
diagnosed with the coronavirus on Monday, Washington Governor
Jay Inslee told reporters at a press conference in Seattle.
"This is not a moment of high anxiety," Inslee said, reporting
that the man was listed in satisfactory condition at Providence
Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington and not known to
have infected anyone else.
"This is a low risk. It appears to have a transmission vector
that really should not prevent anyone from going anywhere in
Snohomish County, except maybe the isolation ward at the
hospital," Inslee said.
The coronavirus, which causes respiratory symptoms similar to a
cold or flu, has been linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, the
largest city in central China with a population of about 11
million. That market has since been shut down.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Washington State say
the agency is preparing for more U.S. cases of the coronavirus
to emerge, and the CDC raised its travel alert for Wuhan to a
level 2, calling for enhanced precautions.
Under that alert level, the CDC recommends travelers to Wuhan
should avoid contact with sick people, animals or animal
markets.
FIVE U.S. AIRPORTS TO SCREEN PASSENGERS
At the Seattle press conference, CDC Medical Officer Satish
Pillai said that all travelers from Wuhan would be directed to
five U.S. airports - in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta
and San Francisco - for screening.
CDC officials said they have begun tracking down individuals who
came in contact with the patient, who lives alone, to check them
for symptoms, but so far have not found any additional patients.
Besides the United States, cases outside of China have been
reported in South Korea, Thailand and Japan.
"I don't think looking at what we know so far that this it on
the scale of SARS and MERS, the two most significant coronavirus
outbreaks that we know from history," Dr. Amesh Adalja, from the
Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, said in a
phone interview with Reuters.
"It is early days in this outbreak and we don't have a good
handle on the severity of illness," Adalja added.
The CDC said it has screened more than 1,200 passengers since
Jan. 17. None of them have been sent on for additional testing.
The U.S. traveler from Washington state had returned on Jan. 15,
arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which is not
on the U.S. list for enhanced screening.
The patient sought care at a medical facility in Everett,
Washington, and was treated for the illness. Based on his travel
history and symptoms, healthcare professionals suspected the new
coronavirus.
Specimens were taken from the patient and sent to the CDC for
testing. The agency said it has developed a new test that
allowed it to identify the presence of the virus in a traveler.
As is often the case, preliminary information suggests older
adults with underlying health conditions may be at increased
risk of severe disease, according to the CDC.
The agency is working with health officials in China and
globally to better understand the virus and any potential
treatments, but U.S. officials have said it could take at least
a year of testing before any vaccine could be used on the
public.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru, Julie Steenhuysen in
Chicago and Dan Whitcomb in Culver City, California; Editing by
Bill Berkrot and Cynthia Osterman)
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