Local public health officials said Wednesday that the diagnosis of the Houston area’s first case of the new coronavirus marks a milestone for a region that’s been preparing for such an event for the last two months.

The case, “presumptively confirmed” this week by a city of Houston laboratory, should ramp up everyone’s readiness about the outbreak, according to Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health. The Houston lab this week received a coronavirus test that will enable it to diagnose the disease more quickly and reveal more cases.

“The coronavirus in this area is no longer a theoretical,” said Shah. “We knew it was only a matter of time, but this underscores the reality that the virus is in our region and puts people on notice that we all need to continue to work together to contain the disease.”

The case in Fort Bend, involving a man in his 70s now hospitalized in stable condition, is the first in Texas not to be imported to the state. Thirteen such cases have been transferred from foreign countries to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

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Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner acknowledged that “many Houstonians may feel anxious” after learning of the area’s first case, but sought to “assure everyone the city of Houston health department is closely monitoring the developments and collaborating with regional, state and federal health authorities.”

The pneumonia-like disease, which originated in China in late December, has infected more than 90,000 people and killed in excess of 3,000 in 65 countries across the globe. More than 150 patients have been treated for the disease in 16 U.S. states, 11 of whom have died.

Though the coronavirus can be fatal, most people recover from it. The vast majority of those who succumb to the disease — the death rate is about 2 percent — are the elderly or those with underlying health problems.

The Fort Bend case, which awaits final confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, was disclosed roughly an hour after the city of Houston announced that it is now conducting testing for the coronavirus, known as COVID-19. Previously, the city health department had to prepare, package and ship specimens to the CDC’s lab, which then took another 48 to 72 hours to conduct its testing given the backlog of such requests from around the country.

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The single test kit Houston received has the capacity to test 700 specimens suspected of carrying the disease. That equates to about 250 to 500 patients, depending on whether a doctor collects one to three viral samples from different sources (nasal swab, saliva or discharge from a cough).

The CDC will send additional kits if there is a demand in the Houston area, said local health officials.

“The kit’s arrival is welcome news, what we’ve been waiting for,” said Shah. “It will provide quicker turnaround times, enabling quicker decisions on how we should proceed and relieving anxiety for individuals who’ve had to wait for days for test results to come back until now.”

Such individuals are isolated during that time.

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That’s currently the case for six University of Houston students and faculty members and 17 Rice research scientists and graduate students. Rice announced the quarantine Sunday as a preventative measure after one employee possibly was exposed to the virus overseas, then came into contact with others on campus. Specimens from the employee were sent to the CDC Monday and expected to be done Thursday or Friday.

UH announced its quarantine Wednesday, following the return of individuals from trips to South Korea and Italy. The quarantine will last two weeks, per university policy. None of the individuals have exhibited symptoms.

The CDC requires that specimens that test positive be sent to the CDC for final confirmation, but considers the results obtained locally to be “actionable.” That means the local health department should take steps, such as isolating the individual and tracing his or her contacts, presuming the individual has the virus.

'ONLY A MATTER OF TIME': Coronavirus case marks milestone for region

The Houston health department received the COVID-19 test kids as part of the initial CDC roll-out to state and local health department labs. The kits were not initially approved for use because of problems with one of the test’s three targets, but the CDC this week issued updated guidance on how to use the kits with the other two targets.

The Houston test kit will serve Harris and 16 other nearby counties.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

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