By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
Federal health officials reported today of the first confirmed case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States in the state of Washington. The patient, age 35, recently returned from Wuhan, China.
The patient returned to the United States from Wuhan on January 15, 2020. The patient sought care at a medical facility in the state of Washington, where the patient was treated for the illness. Based on the patient’s travel history and symptoms, healthcare professionals suspected this new coronavirus. A clinical specimen was collected and sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overnight, where laboratory testing yesterday confirmed the diagnosis via CDC’s Real time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR) test.
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CDC is working closely with the state of Washington and local partners. A CDC team has been deployed to support the ongoing investigation in the state of Washington, including potentially tracing close contacts to determine if anyone else has become ill.
In addition, CDC announced today that they will be adding entry health screening at two more airports – Atlanta (ATL) and Chicago (ORD).
Health officials also updated the travel notice to Alert – Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions today.
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