Health officials announced Sunday that a traveler from Wuhan, China, who is now in Los Angeles County has the second confirmed case of coronavirus in California.
“The infected person presented themselves for care once they noticed that they were not feeling well and is currently receiving medical treatment,” according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“There is no immediate threat to the general public, no special precautions are required, and people should not be excluded from activities based on their race, country of origin, or recent travel if they do not have symptoms of respiratory illness,” the health agency emphsized.
It is the second confirmed case in California of the new 2019-nCoV strain of the virus.
On Saturday, the Orange County Health Care Agency confirmed a case of coronavirus after a traveler from Wuhan — ground zero for the deadly disease — tested positive.
The two Southland cases are the only confirmed cases in California so far, and two of the only four in the United States. The other U.S. cases were reported in Illinois and Washington state.
The outbreak was first noted in late December in Wuhan, an industrial city in the Hubei province of central China. Since then, more than 2,000 cases have been reported in China, with at least 56 deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are screening of travelers from Wuhan at LAX and airports in New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago.
The CDC’s guidance indicates people who have casual contact with a case — “in the same grocery store or movie theater” — are at “minimal risk of developing infection.”
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals. Animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people.
Symptoms of the new strain include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The CDC said symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 after exposure.
— From Staff and Wire Reports