China’s Coronavirus Hits the U.S., is Said to be 'Mutating'

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Update Wednesday, January 22 at 5:00 p.m. EST

Chinese state media have reported that the city of Wuhan has shut down outbound flights and trains in an attempt to stop the further spread of 2019-nCoV. The city has also asked people not to leave Wuhan without specific reasons. 

The World Health Organization did not declar the outbreak a global health emergency during its meeting Wednesday. The expert committee is set to reconvene on the issue for a second day Thursday. 

Original published Wednesday, January 22 at 9:00 a.m. EST

The 2019-nCoV virus has officially spread to the United States, the Centers of Disease and Prevention (CDC) announced Tuesday. The infected patient, who lives in Washington, returned to the state from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the outbreak—on January 15. Four days later, he sought treatment at a medical facility.

Based on travel history and symptoms, healthcare professionals correctly suspected the coronavirus, sending a sample to the CDC lab in Atlanta for confirmation. Anticipating the spread of this virus, which has plagued China since early December 2019, the CDC developed a diagnostic test that relies on real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). Testing is currently only available at the CDC, but the government agency said it plans to share the test domestically and internationally “in the coming days and weeks.”

The diagnostic will be put to the test, however, as Gao Fu, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced in a news conference on Wednesday that the virus is adapting and mutating. Authorities in China discovered on Monday that 2019-nCoV can be spread from person to person, most likely through the respiratory tract. Previously, transmission was thought to occur between animals and humans only. Between mutating and having an easier avenue to spread, the virus has infected a confirmed 440 people, killing nine.

Li Bin, the deputy director of China's National Health Commission, said on Wednesday that 2,197 people were identified as having been in close contact with others who had the virus. He said 765 of those people have been released from medical observation, leaving 1,394 under close observation.

Disease containment is made even harder as hundreds of millions of people plan to travel home for the Lunar New beginning Saturday, January 25.

"The rise in the mobility of the public has objectively increased the risk of the epidemic spreading and the difficulty of prevention and control," Li said.

Weeks ago, the coronavirus, which is characterized by pneumonia-like symptoms including fever and difficulty breathing, was isolated to China's central city of Wuhan. However, in the weeks since, it has spread to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and now the United States.

On Monday, China’s State Council said it will take a series of prevention and control measures, including patient isolation. Group tours have been halted in Wuhan, and airports all across Asia are using infrared thermometers to check passengers for signs of illness. The CDC is also screening air travelers who arrive from Wuhan at airports in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago. All incoming passengers from the Chinese metropolis will be rerouted to one of those airports.

While the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously praised China’s efforts to contain the disease, many others—including foreign and domestic scientists—have publicly questioned if enough was done in the early stages.

In a report published last week, Imperial College London (ICL) researchers said it is likely the Wuhan outbreak has caused substantially more cases than currently reported. They estimate a total of 1,723 cases of n-CoV in Wuhan before January 12. The researchers say the estimate is multi-factorial, beginning with the fact that Wuhan is a transportation hub for about 19 million people. Originally, China’s health department said the virus had only been found in people who visited a local market that had sold live fish, birds and other animals, and that workers had disinfected and shut down the site as of January 1. However, that proved incorrect as the virus spread outside the city.

In the report, ICL researchers calculated the volume of international travel from Wuhan over the last two months at 3,301 passengers per day—without taking into account the travel surge expected this week for the Lunar New Year. Additionally, there is a mean 10-day delay between infection and detection, comprising a 5- to 6-day incubation period and a 4- to 5-day delay from symptom onset to detection/hospitalization.

WHO is holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday to determine whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency.

Photo: A coronavirus. Credit: ICL