The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday the first case of person-to-person transmission of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus in the United States.

CDC Director Robert Redfield told reporters that based on cases in China and other nations, experts at the center “expected to identify some person-to-person spread in the United States.”

“We understand that this may be concerning but based on what we know now, our assessment is that the immediate risk to the American public is low,” he said.

The case involves the husband of a woman in Illinois who contracted the disease in Wuhan, China, and returned to Illinois.

Her husband, who Mr. Redfield said had not been involved in mass gatherings and thus may limit the further spread, contracted the pneumonia-like symptoms from contact with his wife.

The woman is recovering in a Chicago hospital and the husband has been admitted and is in stable condition.

The case marks the sixth person in the U.S. to contract the disease. Other cases have been detected in California and Arizona.

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