(KRON) – The first U.S. case of the coronavirus with an unknown origin has been confirmed in Northern California, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
The person is resident of Solano County and is being treated in Sacramento.
According to the CDC, the patient has not recently traveled to a foreign country and has not had any known contact with a confirmed case.
“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown,” the CDC said in a statement to KRON4. “It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States.”
The CDC says it’s also possible that the patient may have been exposed to the virus by a returned traveler who was infected.
This case brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. to 15.
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Several counties in the San Francisco Bay Area have declared local emergencies to help them respond to the outbreak.
The death toll from the coronavirus is over 2,700 worldwide, with the vast majority in mainland China. There have been more than 80,000 global cases.
The CDC also recently released a statement warning Americans to be prepared for a “significant disruption” as the coronavirus spreading in the US appears to be inevitable.