6 Wisconsin Students Screened For Coronavirus After China Trip

PLATTEVILLE, WI — A total of six UW-Platteville students are being monitored to make sure they do not have a coronavirus infection after coming back from China this week.

According to a Wisconsin Public Radio report, the students were screened at O'Hare International Airport, and showed no signs of the illness. Two of the students are from Wuhan, China, the origin of the outbreak. All are being monitored as a precaution.

Two flights from Wuhan, China, landed at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Wednesday. The Center of Disease Control added health screenings at O'Hare ahead of time, and have similar screenings in place at San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Division of Public Health in Wisconsin are closely monitoring a coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China. There aren't any cases of coronavirus in Wisconsin, health officials say.

Coronavirus Spotted In U.S.

Coronaviruses are responsible for illnesses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The virus was first spotted in the U.S. when a Washington state resident sought medical aid after returning from a trip to Wuhan on Jan. 15, the CDC confirmed Tuesday.

Relatively little is known about the virus, which has reportedly been responsible for 17 deaths in China but also milder, nonlethal symptoms. The CDC said that there is little risk of infection to the American public at large.

Health officials say the arrival of the virus in the U.S. was expected, and that the organization has been preparing for it for weeks.

Adam Nichols, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.