Arkansas' first, and so far, only person suspected of having the new coronavirus became sick after returning from a trip to China and was being kept isolated in a hospital Thursday, a state Department of Health official said.
Jennifer Dillaha, the department's medical director for immunizations and outbreak response, said she expects to have results today from respiratory and blood serum samples from the patient that were sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's laboratory in Atlanta to determine whether the illness was caused by the virus.
Citing health privacy concerns, Dillaha said she couldn't provide any other information about the patient or details such as when the case was reported or what part of the state the patient is in.
"This person is a traveler that returned from China, and they developed respiratory symptoms," she said.
She said the department is keeping an eye out for other possible cases.
"We're working to make sure that any health care provider who receives a patient that has a travel history to China and respiratory symptoms is properly isolated and evaluated," Dillaha said.
She said the department will then help determine whether the patient meets the CDC's criteria to be classified as a possible coronavirus case.
The virus, which emerged in late December in Wuhan, China, spreads much like the flu, through respiratory droplets emitted when people sneeze or cough, Dillaha said.
"So it would be transmitted to people who are close by, say within 6 feet," she said.
Precautions such as frequent hand-washing that help guard against the flu will also help protect people from the coronavirus if it begins spreading more widely in the United States, she said.
On Thursday, public health officials said a man in Chicago had gotten the virus from his wife after she returned from a trip to China. It is the first confirmed instance of person-to-person transmission within the United States.
The other cases in the United States were all of people who had been to Wuhan. The six cases that have been confirmed in the United States are in Washington, California, Arizona and Illinois.
"Based on what we know now, our assessment remains that the immediate risk to the American public is low," CDC Director Robert Redfield said Thursday during a conference call with reporters.
According to a Johns Hopkins University website that's tracking reports from multiple sources, the virus had sickened more than 8,200 people and caused 171 deaths worldwide as of Thursday morning.
Illnesses from the virus have ranged from mild to severe, according to the CDC. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
People in the United States who develop coughs, fevers or difficulty breathing within two weeks after returning from China should call their health care providers, according to the CDC's website.
The provider should then give the person instructions on what precautions to take to avoid spreading the virus, the website says.
Metro on 01/31/2020