CDC testing 5 in state with symptoms of coronavirus
MADISON – Wisconsin hasn’t confirmed any cases of a deadly coronavirus that’s spreading from China, but state public health officials said Monday they’re monitoring five people who have symptoms of the disease and had recently traveled to Wuhan, where it originated.
To protect patient privacy, officials declined to share the locations of any of those being monitored, as well as
whether any of them have been hospitalized.
Epidemiologist Tom Haupt said they should learn the status of the five people within 24 to 48 hours.
Monday, the World Health Organization’s tally of overall cases rose to 2,798, from 2,014 on Sunday, and a death toll of 80, up from 56. The vast majority of the cases were reported in China.
The first U.S. case was identified last week, a Washington state man who had been visiting relatives in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began. Since then, health officials have confirmed four additional cases, one each in Chicago and Arizona, and two in California.
The new coronavirus began to appear in late December and is believed to have originated at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, a so-called wet market at which seafood and meat are sold alongside live animals.
Wisconsin officials had identified six people in locations throughout the state who exhibited both symptoms and the corresponding travel history and sent that information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of those pending cases has already come back negative, said State Health Officer Jeanne Ayers.
While the tests for the other people are being conducted, Haupt said DHS has encouraged them to separate themselves as much as possible from others, either at home or in a hospital if the case is serious.
Wisconsin is relying on what Haupt called “passive monitoring,” in which people who report symptoms and have traveled to Wuhan are told to contact their provider before entering a clinic to ward off possible spread of the virus. Symptoms of the virus are a fever and lower respiratory issues, like shortness of breath and a cough, said state Chief Medical Officer Ryan Westergaard.
The virus is not believed to be spreading from person to person in the U.S. at this time.
Westergaard said it’s key to investigate the travel history of patients because coronavirus does not have symptoms that easily distinguish it from flu.
No Wisconsin airports are currently screening incoming passengers, officials said. Five major international airports in the U.S. have begun screening passengers arriving from China, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York’s John F. Kennedy, Chicago’s O’Hare and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson.
Officials didn’t say whether any of the five people being tested were among six UW-Platteville students who were being monitored last week after a recent visit to Wuhan.
UW-Platteville released an update Monday saying that there were no immediate or known threats on campus.