A case of the Wuhan coronavirus has been reported in Maricopa County, Arizona, bringing the total number of people infected with the deadly virus in the United States to five.
The infected individual in Arizona is a member of the Arizona State University community but does not live in university housing, ABC 15 reports. The person recently returned from travel in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the disease’s outbreak.
Arizona officials are currently investigating close contacts of the individual to determine whether the virus spread while he or she was infectious, but Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ told ABC 15 that immediate risk to the public “is believed to be low at this time.”
Previously, two individuals were diagnosed with coronavirus in California. The Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHA) reported than an individual who traveled to the US from the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province had been in contact with the agency, according to the Orange County Register.
A “traveler from Wuhan, China, has been in contact with the HCA and was provided guidance in order to reduce exposure to the public while awaiting laboratory confirmation from the CDC. The individual has now been transported to a local hospital and is in isolation in good condition,” the OCHA said in a statement late Saturday, per the Orange County Register.
CNN reported Sunday that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had confirmed that the individual had tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus. The individual (who has not been identified) now joins a Chicago woman in her 60s and Washington state man in his 30s, who have also been diagnosed with the virus that is believed to have started at a Chinese wet market.
The OCHA said it did not believe that any person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus had occurred within Orange County, and the agency was working with the CDC and the California Department of Public Health to reach out to all individuals who had contact with the infected person.
The news comes amid reports of the further spread of the virus around the world, including the first reported case in Canada on Saturday. Still, the majority of the impact is felt in China, with 56 reported deaths and more than 2,000 reported infections.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Nancy Messonnier confirmed in a press conference on Sunday that the CDC has had 100 people under investigation across 26 states, and that a quarter of those 100 have been cleared so far. The CDC expects most people to be cleared.
The CDC is planning to release a map of which states are being investigated in the coming week.
Read more:
The Wuhan coronavirus has killed 56 people and infected more than 2,000. Here’s everything we know about the outbreak.
Canada has confirmed its first Wuhan coronavirus case in Toronto
China has banned its citizens from booking overseas tours and purchasing overseas hotels and flight packages amid the Wuhan coronavirus that has killed 42
Hong Kong is shutting down its schools until February 17 to limit the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus
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