US confirms first person-to-person transmission of coronavirus

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta verified that the second person to be infected is from the husband of the first reported case in Illinois who contracted the disease while travelling from Wuhan, China. (File Photo By CDC/Dr. Fred Murphy – This media comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Image Library (PHIL), with identification number #4814., Public Domain)

Health officials from Chicago confirmed the first case of person-to-person transmission of the novel coronavirus in the United States on Thursday, January 30.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta verified that the second person to be infected is from the husband of the first reported case in Illinois who contracted the disease while travelling from Wuhan, China.

“This latest 2019-nCoV patient has no history of travel to Wuhan, but shared a household with the patient diagnosed with 2019-nCoV infection on January 21, 2020,” CDC said in a statement.

This would be the second reported case in Illinois and the sixth in the United States since the outbreak from China. The other reported cases from the US are from Arizona, California and Washington.

The CDC also recognized the possibility of human-to-human transmission, which is why they are cooperating with local and state partners to identify close contacts of those who are confirmed to have contracted the 2019-nCoV.

“Given what we’ve seen in China and other countries with the novel coronavirus, CDC experts have expected some person-to-person spread in the US,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D.  “We understand that this may be concerning, but based on what we know now, we still believe the immediate risk to the American public is low.”

The report from Chicago was released shortly after the World Health Organization declared that the outbreak from China an international public health emergency after the number of cases rose to tenfold in a week.

South Korea also confirmed its first human-to-human spread of the novel coronavirus. The virus transmission involves a 56-year-old man who had been in contact with an infected person who was the third reported case in South Korea.

Common symptoms of the virus include coughing and runny nose, fever, sore throat, and breathing difficulties with more acute cases involving chills and muscle pain.

Meanwhile, China has confirmed 7, 711 cases and 170 deaths as of early Thursday. Worldwide data shows 7,808 confirmed cases are listed from different countries which include Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, France, Germany, Canada and the Philippines.