The U.S. state of Oregon has heightened alert against possible spread of novel coronavirus following one confirmed case in the country, local authorities said Tuesday.
The Oregon Health Authority is watching the outbreak closely after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced earlier in the day that the first case of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has been reported in the United States, The Oregonian daily said.
The CDC said a man in his 30s traveling from Wuhan of central China to Washington state on Jan. 15 was diagnosed with pneumonia, which was confirmed to be caused by the new coronavirus.
The man from the Snohomish County was sequestered at Providence Medical Center in Everett, a city in Washington, about 40 km north of Seattle.
The Oregon newspaper quoted state health authorities as saying that doctors have been required to report any patients with a fever and acute respiratory illness or having contact with someone being investigated in the outbreak.
However, an Oregon health official said the possibility of any secondary infection from the patient diagnosed with novel coronavirus was low since the victim has been hospitalized and sequestered.
The CDC has also said the risk to the American public remains low at this time.
