The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District is investigating whether a Baylor University student who recently traveled to China has contracted the new coronavirus that has erupted out of that country, the university confirmed Friday.

The university said that the student has been isolated in a room on campus as a precaution and that his residence hall — in particular, his dorm room — has been thoroughly cleaned.

“The student is being monitored by Baylor, state and local health officials," Baylor said in a news release. "The University also is working with the student to make sure needs are being met during the isolation period.”

A county health official could not say if the student had a roommate.

Tests for the virus were conducted Thursday, the Waco health department said in a news release. The county hadn’t been told when it might get results back from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While the risk to the general public is low, the Health District is working to identify all those who may have come in contact with the suspected case,” the department said. “These individuals will be monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms if the case is positive.”

A county health official said that the student went to a health care facility when symptoms began and that the facility notified the county after learning the student had been to China.

The student has only mild symptoms, said Kelly Craine, public health information specialist for the health district. The county was working to determine how many contacts with other people the student had before voluntarily isolating himself, she said.

The department couldn’t release the name of the airport through which the student returned to the U.S. but notified the CDC, which is monitoring all direct flights to China, Craine said.

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A spokesperson with the Texas Department of State Health Services said that a total of four people in the state had been tested for the new coronavirus. One possible case is at Texas A&M University, where a student was awaiting test results, Brazos County health officials said Thursday.

One of the four tests in Texas came back negative, and the three others were pending, the department spokesperson said. The department declined to give locations for all four people.

The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China, earlier this month. It has since infected more than 800 people around the world in places including France, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Twenty-six deaths have been reported, all of them in China.

The CDC on Tuesday confirmed the first U.S. case of the virus, in a Seattle resident. A second case, in Chicago, was confirmed Friday. Both people had recently traveled from Wuhan.

People infected with the new strain of coronavirus have reported fever, cough and shortness of breath. The CDC said symptoms can appear from two days to two weeks after exposure.

Cornaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause a range of respiratory illnesses. The new coronavirus had not previously been seen in humans; it can infect both animals and people. Some strains, like Middle East respiratory illness, or MERS, and severe acute respiratory illness, or SARS, can originate in animals and later infect people.

The new strain may have originated from animals, as many of the first patients infected in China reported contact with animal and seafood markets, the CDC said.

After lengthy meetings this week, the World Health Organization declined to declare the outbreak a public health emergency for now. Chinese officials have placed quarantines over large parts of the country to prevent the virus from spreading further.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.