Two cases of coronavirus reported in California

Health officials have confirmed the first two cases of the new strain of coronavirus in California, brought by travelers who came from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, China.

Both cases, in Los Angeles and Orange counties, involved the same strain as the one that had spread to at least 2,000 people in 14 countries and territories and caused 56 deaths since it was discovered late last month in central China. Two other cases have been diagnosed in the U.S., one in Washington state and one in Chicago.

In Los Angeles County, the infected person was a returning traveler from Wuhan who is receiving medical treatment at a local hospital, officials said.

The Orange County patient is in good condition and is in isolation at a hospital, health officials said.

In both counties, health authorities are following up with anyone who has had close contact with the patients, but they noted that casual contact with an infected person - such as visiting the same grocery store or movie theater - only carries “minimal risk of developing infection,” officials said.

“The risk of local transmission remains low,” officials said.

The Los Angeles County patient is a Wuhan resident who was flying through LAX on Jan. 22 his way back to China, county public health officials said during a news conference Sunday.

“The infected person presented themselves immediately for care at LAX airport once they noticed they weren’t feeling well,” said Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer. The patient was transported from LAX directly to a local hospital and “this case poses no immediate threat to the general public,” she said. No Los Angeles County residents were infected or at risk as of Sunday morning, Ferrer said.

The new strain of coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, can cause respiratory illness and pneumonia. It was originally thought to be spreading from only animals to people in central China, but there are now indications it is also spreading among people.

In people who are young and healthy, the virus does not seem to cause severe illness, with symptoms including fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

Most of the dead in China were at least 50 years old with underlying medical problems or weakened immune systems, Chinese officials said.

Health experts in the United States have said there’s no evidence to suggest the new coronavirus is any more virulent than the flu.

But because this strain of coronavirus is new, health officials are on high alert, and they say a vaccine will probably take years to develop.

As of Friday, 18 people between the ages of 3 and 58 had been tested for the virus in California, according to the state Department of Public Health. They included a traveler who arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from Mexico City and was taken to a hospital early Thursday for an evaluation.

Los Angeles County officials could not confirm whether the Mexico City traveler was the same one with the virus.

Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement Sunday that the immediate health risk to the public is low, but “the California Department of Public Health has been preparing for this situation by working closely with local health departments and health care providers.”

Besides the cases in Los Angeles and Orange counties, only two other people have tested positive for the virus in the United States: a man in Washington state and a woman in Illinois.