Baylor University student being tested for possible case of coronavirus - The Dallas Morning News

This breaking news story is being constantly updated.

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District is investigating a possible case of the new coronavirus in a Baylor University student who had recently traveled to China, the university confirmed Friday.

The university said the student is being kept in isolation in a room on campus as a precaution, and that his dorm room was thoroughly cleaned.

“Facility Services also thoroughly sanitized the student’s residence hall room, as well as the residence hall where the individual lived,” the university said in a news release. “The student is being monitored by Baylor, state and local health officials. The University also is working with the student to make sure needs are being met during the isolation period.”

A health official from the county could not say if the student had a roommate in the residence hall.

Tests for the virus were conducted yesterday and sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Waco health department said in a news release. The county is now waiting for results.

“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 the student went to a health care facility when they were experiencing symptoms, and the facility notified the county once the student’s travel history was discovered.

The student currently has minimal symptoms of the virus, and the county is working to determine how many contacts the student had before voluntarily isolating themselves, said Kelly Craine, public health information specialist at the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.

The department cannot release the name of the airport the student used to return to the U.S. but has notified the CDC, who is monitoring all direct flights to China, Craine said.

She said the county has not received information about when the test results will come back.

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

One of the four tests came back negative, and the other three are pending, the department spokesperson said. The department declined to say where the individuals are located.

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 several countries including Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Twenty-six deaths have been reported, all of them in China.

The first U.S. case of the virus was confirmed Tuesday by the CDC, and a second case was confirmed Friday in Chicago. Both individuals had recently traveled from Wuhan, China.

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

Cornaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause a range of respiratory illnesses in people. A novel coronavirus is a strain that has not previously been seen in humans. The virus can infect both animals and people, and 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 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. Meanwhile, 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.

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