- Two suspected cases of the Wuhan coronavirus were detected in Texas and Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
- The Texas patient was identified as a student at Texas A&M University, and the Los Angeles patient was taken to the hospital after being screened at Los Angeles International Airport.
- The new potential cases followed the first confirmed US patient in Washington — a man in his 30s who arrived in the US before screening procedures began last week.
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Two new suspected cases of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus are being tested in Texas and Los Angeles.
Two people who had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, were taken to the hospital after displaying flu-like symptoms during airport screenings Wednesday night.
The Texas patient was identified as a student at Texas A&M University. The university said in a statement that the immediate health risk to the campus is "low," according to a Reuters report.
"The patient is being monitored," Dr. Erik Wilke from the Brazos County Health District, said at a Thursday afternoon press conference. "We've been in contact with the patient today as well, and are tracking. And again, fortunately, his symptoms are not severe and he's doing well."
The Centers for Disease Control added that, given that it is cold and flu season, more people may display similar symptoms to the novel coronavirus but may not necessarily be infected, Reuters reported.
"Health care providers were aware of public health guidance on novel coronavirus and quickly recognized that the patient met the criteria for coronavirus testing and is being kept isolated at home, while the precautionary testing is done," the Brazos County Health District said in a statement on Twitter on Thursday.
The California patient landed in Los Angeles International Airport, one of soon-to-be five US international airports where the CDC had set up screening procedures. The passenger had just arrived to LAX from Mexico City, and he was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, KTLA reported.
"To date, there has been no identified coronavirus cases in LA County and currently the risk of local transmission is low," Los Angeles county health officials told Insider in an emailed statement, adding that "when a suspected case of novel coronavirus is identified, Public Health works with the CDC and the healthcare facilities to assess and test."
The CDC did not immediately respond to Insider's emails for comment regarding the California patient.
The two new potential cases followed the first confirmed US patient in Washington — a man in his 30s who arrived in the US before screening procedures began last week. On an international scale, the coronavirus has killed at least 18 and infected more than 600 people as of Friday morning local time.
The World Health Organization has yet to declare the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency after a Wednesday meeting, despite the entire city of Wuhan going under quarantine to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
"There is no evidence of human to human transmission outside China, but that doesn't mean it won't happen," director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. "WHO is following this outbreak every minute of every day."
- Read more:
- The outbreaks of both the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS started in Chinese wet markets. Photos show what the markets look like.
- Here are the symptoms of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus and when you should be worried
- Wuhan, China, and 5 other cities have been quarantined as China attempts to halt the spread of the coronavirus. That's about 23 million people on lockdown.
SEE ALSO: The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to 8 countries. Here's how to protect yourself while traveling.
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