Department Tracking Coronavirus Spread and Information

January 27, 2020

With a handful of novel coronavirus cases now reported in the United States, the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) is closely monitoring the situation and sharing recommendations with Wyoming healthcare providers.

“At this point, no reported or suspected cases have been identified in Wyoming,” said Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with WDH. “We have communicated the latest information regarding patient care, infection control and testing procedures with healthcare providers across Wyoming and will continue to share updates as needed. This is clearly a quickly growing and changing situation.”

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause the common cold. The origins of the 2019 novel coronavirus appear to be linked to a large seafood and animal market in Wuhan, China. The disease has spread with cases now reported in several other countries including the United States.

“At this time, the risk of infection appears to be most closely linked to recent travel to Wuhan, China or direct close contact with a person with confirmed novel coronavirus infection,” said Clay Van Houten, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit manager. “If we have a suspected case reported in Wyoming, we will follow up appropriately with patient and community safety in mind.”

Although scientists are still learning about this newly discovered virus, symptoms of infection have included mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough and shortness of breath.

For more information about the disease and its spread, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

For more information about 2019 novel coronavirus and Wyoming, visit:

https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/novel-coronavirus/.