The husband of an Illinois patient with novel coronavirus has been infected with the virus himself, making him the first case of human-to-human transmission of novel coronavirus on U.S. soil, the .
Illinois health officials said the man was in his 60s, and had "underlying medical conditions," though they would not elaborate. He recently began reporting new symptoms, was admitted to the hospital, and was placed in an isolation room. A laboratory sample sent to the CDC confirmed the patient had novel coronavirus. His condition was described as stable.
The man's wife, who had been in China and was the second case of travel-associated novel coronavirus in the U.S., remains hospitalized, but "continues to do well."
CDC director Robert Redfield, MD, said that 21 people are now being tracked in Illinois, all close contacts of the Illinois case. He said that these contacts are being actively monitored for symptoms.
When asked by reporters about the possibility of asymptomatic transmission, Nancy Messonnier, MD, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said, "we don't know yet; we're looking closely to see" if this is happening.
However, Illinois officials confirmed that the man was in "close contact" with his wife, and that he was exposed while she was symptomatic. They said they are currently looking at "areas of exposure" for him, but determined that he did not attend any mass gatherings.
Messonnier said that the CDC does not currently recommend that the public wear masks in an effort to protect themselves from contracting novel coronavirus, and CDC officials reiterated that the risk to the general public remains low.
WHO: Novel Coronavirus is Now an International Health Emergency
An "almost unanimous" vote from the World Health Organization's International Health Regulations emergency committee (PHEIC) on Thursday.
The committee cited the increase in the number of cases, with the WHO's latest count of 7,834, including 98 outside China in 18 countries. Deaths number 170 so far, all in China. Committee members said the increase in the number of countries affected with cases was also a factor.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, MBBS, PhD, also cited the eight cases of human-to-human transmission outside China in four countries, including the U.S. on Thursday.
"The main reason [for the PHEIC] is not because of what is happening in China, but... for the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems and which are ill-prepared to deal with it," he said.
WHO emergency committee chair Didier Houssin, MD, also seemed to chastise certain unnamed countries for taking "questionable measures concerning travelers," including visa refusal, border closure, and quarantine of travelers in good condition, asking what the evidence behind these decisions was.
Adhanom Ghebreyesus reemphasized that WHO is not recommending any restrictions on travel or trade to China.
"This declaration is not a vote of no-confidence in China. WHO continues to have confidence in China's ability to control the outbreak," he said, and then repeated it a second time.
A PHEIC is notable because under the International Health Regulations (IHR), the 196 countries in the IHR have a "binding international legal agreement" to "respond promptly" when a PHEIC is declared. This declaration expires after three months, and is reviewed at least that often to determine whether changes need to be made to these recommendations.
The last time the WHO declared a PHEIC was for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2019. This is the sixth international health emergency that the WHO has declared since 2009.