WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2020) The first case of person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus within the United States has been confirmed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.
"CDC today confirmed that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has spread between two people in the United States, representing the first instance of person-to-person spread with this new virus here," the health agency said in a statement.
Unlike previous confirmed cases in the United States, the latest 2019-nCoV patient had no history of travel to Wuhan, China - where the outbreak began last month, the release said. However, the individual did share a household with a patient who had traveled to the central Chinese province before getting diagnosed on January 21.
CDC Director Robert Redfield said they believe the immediate risk to the American public remains low. The CDC has been expecting some person-to-person spread in the United States given what happened in China, Redfield said in the statement.
Earlier, state of Illinois chief medical officer, Dr. Jennifer Layden, said the transmission was between a husband and wife in Chicago. The woman, in her 60s, returned from central China on January 13 and was diagnosed and hospitalized with the virus last week.
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Dr. Nancy Messonnier told reporters that while the health situation is serious they are certainly not recommending the use of a face mask by the public at this point.
Before Thursday's development, five cases of the new virus have been confirmed in the United States with more than 90 other people suspected of being infected.
The novel strain of coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December. The virus has since spread within China and to at least 18 other countries. The epidemic has already left 170 people dead and more than 7,700 infected in China.
