SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA (KMJ) Bay area health officials say a man has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Santa Clara County health officers were discussing the case at a press conference, Friday.
Health officials says there are no confirmed cases reported in Alameda County, Contra Costa County or San Mateo County as of Friday.
No cases have been identified in Fresno County or California as of January 23, 2020,
Health officials in the U.S. are watching the Coronavirus outbreak in China very closely, and continue to work with local healthcare providers as the situation evolves.
Coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China where more than 9,000 people have become ill.
The outbreak began in early December 2019 and continues to expand in scope and magnitude.
In the Hubei Province more than 200 people have died.
Two cases reported in California are being closely monitored in Los Angeles and in Orange County.
On Thursday, January 30, 2020 the first person-to-person spread of coronavirus was reported in the United States in a 60 year-old woman in Chicago.
She called her doctor after symptoms arose and she was admitted to a hospital and placed in isolation, health officials said.
Further testing confirmed the virus.
She did not have extended contact with anyone outside of her home, attend a large public gathering or use public transportation.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing respiratory illness in people and others that circulate mostly among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Common symptoms in an infected person include a fever, cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
“Since there are many coronaviruses and they are routinely found in those with the common cold, it is not unusual to detect one or several strains during routine testing. However, these strains are not the same as the novel 2019-nCoV strain, which can only be detected by the CDC laboratory at this time,” says Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County Interim Health Officer.
