BISMARCK – Health care providers across North Dakota have been provided with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention information about the new coronavirus first detected in China, said a North Dakota Health Department official this week.

Michelle Dethloff, with the Department’s Division of Disease Control, said information went to the health care providers in the state this past Saturday.

The information for health care professionals includes criteria to guide evaluations of patients who might have the illness, recommendations for reporting, testing and specimen collection, and interim health care infection prevention and control recommendations for patients under investigation for the illness.

The coronavirus (termed “2019-nCoV”) is making headlines as China widens travel restrictions imposed on the Chinese city of Wuhan to at least four more cities, according to news reports. The respiratory illnesses began in Wuhan and have since spread to at least five countries including the United States. Federal health officials on Tuesday said a man in Seattle who had traveled to Wuhan, was diagnosed with the illness, but officials currently maintain the risk to the public is low.

Symptoms of the 2019 coronavirus have been reported to include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Those who suspect they might have the virus should seek medical care immediately.

Dethloff said people should still take precautions also because this is the flu season.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats, according to CDC. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, first reported to the World Health Organization on Dec. 31, reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. However, a growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, suggesting person-to-person spread.

CDC is urging travelers to avoid non-essential travel to areas in China with coronavirus and practice precautions (avoiding contact with sick people, wash hands with soap and water often, etc.) if traveling to other parts of the country. Precautionary measures are listed at the Health Department’s website.

For more information about coronavirus and what to do to protect against it visit the North Dakota Health Department’s website at www.health.nd.gov, then go to to “Health Topics A-Z” and scroll to “coronavirus.”