This article was updated on January 28th at 1:15pm. 

There are now 5 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, according to the CDC, but the agency said the threat to the general public is still low. California has 2 confirmed cases of the virus, while Arizona, Illinois, and Washington State each have a single case.1

The virus, first seen in Wuhan, China, is characterized by mild to severe respiratory illness, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include fever, myalgia, fatigue, sputum production, headache, haemoptysis, and diarrhea.

The Wuhan region is experiencing an outbreak of the new coronavirus, and cases of the virus have been confirmed in more than 15 countries, including the US and Canada.2 About 25% of reported cases have been classified as severe, according to Elsevier’s coronavirus information center. The mortality rate is approximately 3%, with 41 deaths in the first 1287 reported cases. So far, mortality has been associated with advanced age or comorbidities.3

This human-to-human coronavirus is being spread by travelers to the Wuhan region, according to the CDC, and the agency is recommending that people avoid nonessential travel to China.4 The CDC is continuing to monitor the situation and make aggressive strides toward better understanding the disease and establishing effective treatments.1

“At this point, even in the CDC, there are still a lot of questions to be answered,” said Ken Thai, PharmD, president of the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA).