Civic Register
| 1.27.20

5th U.S. Case of Wuhan Coronavirus Confirmed in Arizona – How Should the U.S. Respond?

Are you concerned about the Wuhan coronavirus?

Update - January 27, 2020:

  • A member of Arizona State University has been confirmed to have the Wuhan coronavirus, bringing the total number of people infected with the deadly virus in the U.S. to five.
  • Two people in California were also diagnosed with the virus over the weekend.
  • The virus, first diagnosed in China last month, has infected at least 1,975 people and killed 56 people there. Beijing officials have locked down Wuhan and at least two other cities in an effort to contain the virus during the busy Lunar New Year travel period.

Update - January 24, 2020:

  • A second U.S. case of coronavirus was confirmed Friday in Chicago, as Chinese health officials scramble to contain the outbreak that has killed 26 people.
  • Beginning last Friday, the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have implemented enhanced health screenings on direct or connecting flights from Wuhan to SFO, JFK, and LAX airports.

Countable's original story appears below.

What’s the story?

  • The Wuhan virus has reached the U.S., infecting a person in Washington State, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Tuesday. 
  • The virus – which has been traced to a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, China – has killed at least 26 people and sickened hundreds more across Asia.
  • Beginning last Friday, the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have implemented enhanced health screenings on direct or connecting flights from Wuhan to SFO, JFK, and LAX airports.

What are the symptoms?

Per the CDC:

  • Signs and symptoms of this illness include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.

What are people saying?

  • “There are still more questions that we don’t know the answers to than things we do know,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told the New York Times.
“For example, what is the source? We don’t know exactly. The location likely was the live animal market, but we don’t know the particular animal.”
  • Of more concern, he said, is this as-yet unanswered question:
“How frequent is human-to-human transmission?”

What do you think?

Are you concerned about the Wuhan virus? Is the U.S. response adequate? Take action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: iStock / Spondylolithesis)