US to screen passengers for China coronavirus at three airports

The United States will begin screening at three major airports people coming from the central Chinese city of Wuhan for the newly identified coronavirus that has killed one person and infected at least 40 more in China, public health officials said Friday.

About 100 experts from the CDC are being deployed to the three airports. The first flight to be screened will arrive at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday night, Dr Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, said.

JFK is the only airport in New York where the screening will take place. Screening at San Francisco International and Los Angeles International will begin on Saturday.

The disease is caused by a coronavirus, a member of a family of viruses that can cause respiratory ailments ranging from colds to pneumonia.

Most people with the disease are believed to have contracted it from exposure to animals at a market that sells seafood and meat in Wuhan, and it isn't certain that the virus spreads from person to person. But a few cases have not been linked to animals, and researchers say some human-to-human transmission may be possible, so precautions are necessary.

The risk from the coronavirus to Americans is deemed to be low, the CDC said. "But the earlier we detect, the better we can protect," Cetron said.

THE CDC is doing the screening after travelers from Wuhan recently arrived in Thailand and Japan infected with the new virus. There have been two cases in Thailand and one in Japan.

``Considering global travel patterns, additional cases in other countries are likely," the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Last year, more than 60,000 passengers flew into the United States from the city of Wuhan, 700 miles south of Beijing. The vast majority flew into the three airports where the checks will take place, according to the CDC.

January is the peak travel season from China to the United States because of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Cetron said.

While the US State Department has issued a health alert update about travel to the Wuhan region, the CDC has urged citizens traveling in the region to avoid contact with animals, animal markets or animal products, among other precautions.

Travelers arriving at the three airports in the US will be asked to fill out questionnaires asking if they have symptoms like cough or fever, and whether they have visited meat or seafood markets in Wuhan.

Screeners will also use thermal scanners that can be pointed at the forehead or temple to check for fever. People with signs of the illness will be examined further, and those who seem likely to be infected will be sent on to area hospitals for further testing. Cetron declined to say which hospitals they would be sent to.

REUTERS