The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is cooperating with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respond to recent reports of a new coronavirus.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing respiratory illness in people and others that circulate mostly among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Common symptoms in an infected person include a fever, cough, and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

Since December, Chinese authorities preliminarily identified more than 450 human infections, including 17 deaths, associated with this coronavirus in an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. In addition, coronavirus infections have been confirmed in travelers who traveled to or came from Wuhan City. One case has been identified in the United States.

Because this is a novel virus, CDC, acting with an abundance of caution, will initiate screening of travelers from Wuhan City at JFK airport in NYC, SFO airport in San Francisco and LAX airport in Los Angeles. These three airports have been selected because they are the initial U.S. destinations for the vast majority of travelers from Wuhan City.

Public Health will be assisting the CDC to ensure that travelers from Wuhan City that have a fever or respiratory illness symptoms upon arrival to LAX are appropriately screened, tested and receive care.

For information, visit cdc.gov/travel/notices/watch/novel-coronavirus-china or publichealth.lacounty.gov.