Two new cases of the coronavirus was reported in the U.S., Sunday evening in San Benito County, California, south of San Jose involving a married couple, both 57.
These were confirmed by San Benito County Public Health Services stating that a man, who had recently traveled from Wuhan, China transmitted the viral illness to his wife. Health officials said both have not left their home since returning from China. The patients are in isolation at home and are not hospitalized.
Reports indicate that the husband arrived at San Francisco International Airport on January 24. Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, interim health officer for the county said that during screening, he was found to be healthy and asymptomatic,
He recently traveled from Wuhan, China, but his wife did not, making them the second case of person-to-person transmission in the U.S and the 11th case of this virus that originated in central China.
The man developed symptoms including a cough and low-grade fever. A few days later, his wife began showing symptoms as well.
To recall, the 9th case was announced Sunday in Santa Clara County, California. This involves a woman who came from Wuhan, China, and traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit her family on Jan. 23. She developed symptoms but was not hospitalized. She was then isolated along with her family.
The market that traded illegally in wildlife in Hubei's provincial capital, Wuhan, is believed to be the center of the strain of coronavirus and has so far resulted in more than 350 deaths in China. More cases have also been reported in 27 other nations.
Confirmed U.S. cases were two in Illinois, six in California, one in Arizona, one in Washington, and one in Massachusetts. A Chicago case was the first human-to-human transmission in the U.S.
Meanwhile, first death outside China was a 44-year-old man in the Philippines who contracted the coronavirus from his friend while they were traveling together in Wuhan, China.
The victim's friend, a 38-year-old woman, was the first person with a confirmed case for the virus in the Philippines. The death of her friend is the only reported novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV) death outside of China.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were at least 17,205 confirmed cases in more than two dozen countries. There have been 361 deaths from China and the Philippines.
In an advisory posted on the State Department website last Friday, the State Department told U.S. citizens not to travel to China and alerted of possible "travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice."
The agency advised U.S. citizens currently in China to consider leaving using commercial means.
WHO has recently declared the outbreak a global emergency. According to U.S. health officials, risks to the United States remain low.
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that affect the respiratory tract. They can lead to illnesses such as the common cold, pneumonia, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
