A 60-year-old Chicago woman who recently returned from a solo trip to China is the first person in the area confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, health officials said Friday.
It’s the second confirmed case of the virus in the United States and the first in Illinois.
“This is a single, travel-associated case, not a local emergency,” Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a news conference Friday. “We obviously take emerging viruses very seriously, and there are still many unanswered questions about this novel virus.”
The woman is hospitalized for monitoring for “infection control,” Arwady said. Her condition has been stabilized.
“There is no need for the general public to change their behavior in any way based on this news,” Arwady said.
The woman returned Jan. 13 from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus outbreak is centered, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Officials did not begin screening for coronavirus at O’Hare Airport and other U.S. airports until this week.
“A few days after arriving home, the patient began to feel unwell,” Arwady said. “She called ahead to alert her doctor to her illness, rather than just presenting to a clinic or an emergency room. This is exactly what any returning traveler from Wuhan should do.”
The woman’s doctor referred her “directly to a hospital with infection control capabilities,” Arwady said, declining to name the hospital.
The patient has had limited close contacts, all of whom are currently well and who will be monitored for symptoms. Since returning from China, the patient has had very limited movement outside the home, the CDC said.
“We will be following up with those folks, looking for symptoms — quick to follow up if there were any concern,” Arwady said. “And also, we’ll be working with the health care workers who have cared for or continued to care for this patient.”
“We are certainly not surprised to have a case” given Chicago is a global city, Arwady said.
There are many known types of coronaviruses. Some cause the common cold. Others found in bats, camels and other animals have evolved into more severe illnesses such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) or MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome).
Common symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever. Shortness of breath, chills and body aches are associated with more dangerous kinds of coronavirus, according to the CDC.
