The first U.S. incident of person-to-person spread of the new coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, has been identified in Illinois, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
"The second person in Illinois testing positive for the Novel Coronavirus is a Chicago resident and is the spouse of the first confirmed travel associated case in Illinois," said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The coronavirus was confirmed in the husband of a woman who had previously traveled to China and was confirmed as having the infection. Both patients are in their 60s, officials said on a conference call.
Jennifer Layden, the state's chief medical officer, said the man's condition was "stable" and that his situation was exacerbated by some underlying medical conditions.
Both federal and state officials, however, stressed that the pathogen is not spreading widely in communities and the overall risk to Americans remains low.
The case brings the total number of U.S. patients infected with the fast-spreading virus to six.
As of Thursday, some 7,700 cases have been confirmed in China, its country of origin, with at least 170 fatalities.
The virus has spread from the city of Wuhan across China to more than 15 countries, with about 60 cases in Asia, Europe, North America and, most recently, the Middle East.
No deaths have been attributed to the virus outside China.
