1st case of person-to-person spread of coronavirus reported in US

CHICAGO – Health officials said the sixth case of coronavirus in the United States was caught by person-to-person contact.

It is the first reported case of the virus in the country spread this way.

MORE: What is coronavirus?

The ill person is the husband of a Chicago woman who got sick from the virus after she returned from China. Wuhan, China is the center of an outbreak of the illness.

The man and woman, who both are in their 60s, are stable and isolated at a hospital. Officials reiterated that the man hasn’t attended any mass gatherings, and the illness is not currently spreading across a community.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a global emergency Thursday. The virus has spread to more than a dozen nations.

Doctors in the U.S. have been monitoring the people who had close contact with the five case initially reported in the country because they expected the virus to spread person-to-person.

Learn more about the coronavirus outbreak here.