A male airline passenger in the state of Washington is now the first official case of the deadly Chinese coronavirus to be diagnosed inside the United States. The disease began to devastate China last month and so far there have been over six persons killed, plus hundreds more sickened and incapacitated throughout southern China, according to medical authorities in both China and the United States.
Medical authorities in Asia remain baffled as to exactly how the coronavirus (which means ‘blazing virus,’ in recognition of its fast and intense spread) was transmitted from animals, probably pigs, to humans with such a short incubation time. So far, the Chinese government are assuring their citizens that the human virus has no connection with the swine flu that is devastating the pig population in China, and threatens to cross borders and infect pigs in other countries in Southeast Asia like Vietnam and Thailand.
In the United States the federal government is considering a complete ban on travelers from mainland China until the virus is better understood and a vaccine can be developed — but that may take months. Chinese tourism accounts for a huge chunk of income in parts of the United States like California and New York — cutting off the supply of such free-spending tourists could have a very negative impact on the economy for those states.