Washington state resident treated for coronavirus

U.S. on Tuesday reported its first case of a new and potentially dely virus circulating in China, saying a Washington state resident who returned last week from outbreak's epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle.

man, identified as a Shomish County resident is in his 30s, was in good condition and wasn't considered a threat to medical staff or public, health officials said.

U.S. officials stressed that y believe virus' overall risk to American public remained low.

"This is certainly t a moment for panic or high anxiety, “ Washington state Goverr Jay Inslee said.

newly discovered virus has infected about 300 people, all of whom h been in China, and killed six. virus can cause coughing, fever, breathing difficulty and pneumonia. U.S. joins a growing list of places outside mainland China reporting cases, following Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Airports around world have stepped up monitoring, checking passengers from China for signs of illness in hopes of containing virus during busy Lunar New Year travel season.

Late last week, U.S. health officials began screening passengers from Wuhan in central China, where outbreak began. screening h been underway at three U.S. airports - New York City's Kennedy airport and Los Angeles and San Francisco airports. On Tuesday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anunced it would d Chicago's O'Hare airport and Atlanta's airport to mix later this week.

What's more, officials also will begin forcing all passengers from Wuhan to go to one of those five airports if y wish to enter U.S.

hospitalized U.S. resident h symptoms when he arrived at Seattle-Tacoma airport last Wednesday, but he started feeling ill on Thursday and went to a doctor on Sunday with a fever and a cough, officials said. Lab testing on Monday confirmed he h virus.

hospital, Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, said in a statement that it expected man would remain in isolation and under monitoring re at least until Thursday.

CDC officials said y sent a team to Washington to try to track down people who might have come in contact with man. hospital also said it was contacting “ small number of staff and patients” who may have been with man at a clinic.

man is originally from central China, lives alone in U.S. and me trip solo, officials said. re were relatively few people who came in contact with him since he got back, health officials said.

Last month, doctors in Wuhan began seeing new virus in people who got sick after spending time at a wholesale seafood market. More than 275 cases of newly identified virus have been confirmed in China, most of m in Wuhan, according to World Health Organization.

count includes six deaths - all in China, most of m 60 or older, including at least some who h a previous medical condition.

Officials have said virus probably spre from animals to people, but this week Chinese officials said y've concluded it also can spre from person to person.

Health authorities this month identified germ behind outbreak as a new of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause common cold; ors found in bats, camels and or animals have evolved into more severe illnesses.

SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, belongs to coronavirus family, but Chinese state media say illness in Wuhan is different from coronaviruses that have been identified in past. Earlier laboratory tests ruled out SARS and MERS - Middle East respiratory syndrome - as well as influenza, bird flu, evirus and or common lung-infecting germs.

new virus so far does t appear to be as dely as SARS and MERS, but viruses can sometimes mutate to become more dangerous.