CHICAGO _ The first U.S. case of the coronavirus spreading from one person to another was reported in Chicago on Thursday, the husband of a woman who caught the disease while in China.
It's the second case that's been confirmed in Illinois, and the sixth case in the United States, since the new respiratory virus first started to spread in Wuhan, China.
A Chicago woman who returned from caring for her sick father in China earlier this month was the first local person diagnosed with the illness, health officials reported last Friday. The woman, who is in her 60s, traveled to Wuhan in late December and returned to Chicago on Jan. 13. Her spouse, who had not traveled to China, is the second Illinois case and first instance of person-to-person spread in the U.S., the Illinois Department of Public Health said.
The man is also in his 60s and has underlying medical conditions, health officials said. He's in stable condition at Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman Estates, and was placed in isolation two days ago.
His wife also remains hospitalized at St. Alexius. But she is "doing quite well," said Dr. Jennifer Layden, chief medical officer and state epidemiologist at the health department. Layden said the woman remains hospitalized "primarily for isolation."
It's believed that her husband was exposed to the virus while she was having symptoms, Layden said.
Health officials said the man has not attended any large gatherings, taken the "L" or any other train recently, and is sharing details of his activities from the last several weeks.
Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, did not answer a question at a news conference about whether the man had been going to work. She said he mostly uses his car to get around, as opposed to public transportation.
Officials also declined to say how many people they're monitoring for illness who've been in contact with the couple but said they are "actively monitoring all close contacts," including health care workers who interacted with the woman. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers close contact to consist of 10 minutes or more of face-to-face contact with a person.
In all, health officials are investigating 21 possible cases of the coronavirus in Illinois. People under investigation who are showing symptoms are in isolation, Arwady said.
Health officials are following up daily with those who've come into close contact with the couple to see if they're showing symptoms, she said. Only those showing symptoms are being isolated, Arwady said.
"Certainly, at this point, the belief from CDC is that there is not a significant risk of spread before people develop symptoms," Arwady said. "That is not a setting in which we would want to be thinking about overusing resources where that's not necessary."
In outbreaks of other types of coronaviruses, such as MERS and SARS, people didn't spread the illnesses before they developed symptoms, she said.
Shortly after the announcement of the second Chicago case, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency.
Despite the news Thursday, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, said: "We believe people in Illinois are at low risk.
"This person-to-person spread was between two very close contacts, a husband and wife," Ezike said at a news conference. "The virus is not spreading across the community at this time."
Coronaviruses are often spread through close personal contact, Arwady said.
"We know this new patient had close contact with his wife after she began to develop symptoms, so it's not unexpected," Arwady said.
DuPage County public health officials said Tuesday they are tracking multiple county residents who may have come in contact with the woman, but none had reported symptoms. The couple live in Chicago but may have come into contact with people in DuPage County, said Don Bolger, a spokesman for the DuPage County Health Department.
There have been 7,818 cases reported worldwide, mostly in China, and 170 deaths from the illness in China, according to the World Health Organization.
On Wednesday, the U.S. government evacuated 195 Americans from Wuhan. The CDC has advised Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China.
Symptoms of the virus can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. It's believed symptoms appear anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure. The CDC has said it's still unclear how easily the virus spreads from person to person.
Local health officials say it's not necessary for Chicagoans to stay home or cancel activities because of the news.
