First U.S. person-to-person coronavirus spread reported as WHO panel meets

Workers make protective suits at a factory, as the country is hit by an epidemic of the new coronavirus, in Chaohu, Anhui province, China January 28, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS

BEIJING/GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States reported its first case of person-to-person transmission of a fast-spreading new coronavirus on Thursday, as a World Health Organization (WHO) panel met to reconsider whether the outbreak that has killed 170 people in China should be declared a global emergency.

The vast majority of the more than 8,100 cases detected globally, according to the latest official data, have been in China, where the virus originated in an illegal wildlife market in the city of Wuhan.