British traveler with virus may have exposed dozens

A middle-aged businessman from England who vacationed in the Alps has illustrated how the ease of international travel is complicating global efforts to track and contain the new coronavirus that emerged in China.

From the Singapore hotel where he is believed to have picked up the virus during a conference, to a ski resort in the French Alps and a pub in his hometown of Hove on the southern coast of England, as well as the flights he took on his way back to Britain, the man came in contact with dozens of other people, potentially infecting them before he was diagnosed and hospitalized. Health officials are now hunting for them.

Already, five Britons who stayed with him at a chalet in the Alps have been diagnosed with the virus, including a 9-yearold boy. Another man who stayed at the resort was discovered infected after returning to his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

The apparent ease with which the virus spread raises concern that some of the 90 others who attended the conference may also have been infected and “may go on to initiate chains of infection in their home countries,” said Dr. Nathalie MacDermott, a clinical lecturer at King’s College London.

The World Health Organization warned that given the relatively small cluster so far, it would be unfair and an exaggeration to characterize the businessman as a “superspreader,” or someone who infects an unusually large number of people.