The first case of Wuhan coronavirus has been confirmed in the United States, the CDC said Tuesday.
According to the CDC, the patient had returned from a visit to the Wuhan province of China on Jan. 15.
The virus, which causes respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia, has now infected 300 people around the world and killed six people in five countries. Most of those cases occurred in Hubei province of China and other eastern Asian countries.
Initially, scientists believed that the virus only spread from animals — including camels, cats and bats — to people. On Tuesday, the CDC said there's now a "growing consensus" that there is "limited" person-to-person contraction of the virus.
The CDC began screening for the virus at international airports in San Francisco, New York and LAX last week. The CDC will begin testing for the virus at airports in Atlanta and Chicago this week.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mentioned the sickened person had died. A person has only been infected with the disease and is still alive.