State's second suspected coronavirus case under investigation at Baylor

A CDC map depicts countries where the coronavirus outbreak has spread as of Jan. 23, 2020. A CDC map depicts countries where the coronavirus outbreak has spread as of Jan. 23, 2020. Photo: CDC Photo: CDC Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close State's second suspected coronavirus case under investigation at Baylor 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

UPDATE: The Waco-McLennan County public health district is investigating the state's second suspected case of the the mystery pneumonia-like virus that has claimed 26 lives in China and has been confirmed in two people in the U.S.

The new suspected case involves a Baylor University student who traveled to China this year. The student is doing well with mild symptoms, public health officials said, much like the Texas A&M student who went to a hospital ER Wednesday because he'd been to China and had recently developed a cough and respiratory congestion.

The Baylor student has been moved to an isolated room on campus as a precaution, Baylor University said in a news release. The student had lived in a residence hall, which has been "thoroughly sanitized," the statement said.

The Waco-McLennan County health district is waiting on test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The initial suspected case involved a Texas A&M University student who recently traveled from Wuhan, China, the district where the so-called 2019 novel coronavirus originated. The student went to an area hospital emergency department with mild symptoms Wednesday evening, according to the Brazos County health district.

"He presented at the ER out of concern because he'd been in Wuhan, not because of the severity of his symptoms," Dr. Eric Wilke, health authority for the Brazos County health district, said at a news conference broadcast on Facebook Thursday. "He's doing well."

The student, described as between 20 and 30, is currently in isolation in home, not hospitalized.

The case would be the first in the state of Texas. Roughly 90 miles outside of Houston, Brazos County is home to the cities of Bryan and College Station, where Texas A&M is located.

Wilkes said the viral samples taken from the student were sent to the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which should have results within 24 hours of receiving them. He said the CDC should receive the samples no later than Friday.

Wilke also said Brazos County officials are working on the assumption the student had been in classes and have begun taking steps to identify potential contacts, though they are waiting on the CDC results to see if they need to step up the effort. He said the risk to the campus community was low because the student did not have symptoms until Wednesday evening.

Wilkes praised health-care providers, noting they were very aware of public health guidance about the virus and quick to recognize the patient met the criteria for testing. "They did everything right," said Wilkes, including notifying the health division.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which this week confirmed cases in Chicago and the state of Washington, is currently screening travelers from China at airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York as part of early efforts to prevent the virus’ spread in the United States.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport tweeted earlier this week that federal agencies so far have seen no need for passengers at Houston airports to be screened for signs of the virus and an airport spokesman said nothing has changed since then, likely because the case in Brazos County is only suspected at this point, not confirmed.

It is unclear what airport the Texas A&M student traveled through. Wilkes said the health division doesn't have that information yet and the Bush airport spokesman said there is no indication the student traveled through Houston.

Bush Airport has some direct flights to and from China but none to and from Wuhan.

One Houston expert said he’d think any international airport taking passengers from China would want to screen for the virus.

“Because people got out of Wuhan before the quarantine, there have been cases in other parts of China,” said Peter Hotez, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. “There have been cases in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, for example, and the chances are good they’ll be seeing cases in other Chinese cities too.”

On Thursday, the Bush airport tweeted that the Transportation Security Administration has determined that health alert flyers will be posted at all their airport checkpoints. The flyers advise travelers from Wuhan to call a doctor and tell them they were in the district if they become sick within two weeks of leaving.

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