CDC Advises Against Nonessential Travel Following Coronavirus Outbreak

More than 4,500 people have become ill following the outbreak.

Jan. 28, 2020

2 min read

An updated travel recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is cautioning against nonessential travel to China.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has reached the United States, with five confirmed cases as of January 28 and more suspected. All five cases have been travelers returning from Wuhan, China, the origin of the outbreak.

"Based on current information, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV to the general American public is considered low at this time," the agency wrote in a statement. "However, risk is dependent on exposure and some people will have greater risk of infection, for example, healthcare workers caring for 2019-nCoV patients and other close contacts."

More than 4,500 Coronavirus cases have been reported throughout China, with 106 confirmed deaths.

Person-to-person community spread with this virus reportedly is occurring in the country but has not been observed outside of China

The outbreak began when the coronavirus jumped from animal to human. There currently is no vaccine available for the strain of this virus, known as coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

The CDC also wrote about its efforts to control the illness, "While it’s possible that some person-to-person spread with this virus may be detected in the United States, the goal of the ongoing U.S. public health response is to contain this outbreak and prevent sustained spread in this country."

Additional information about coronavirus can be found on the CDC website.