China viral infection prompts more screenings at airports

An airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, China, Tuesday. Heightened precautions were being taken in China and elsewhere as governments strove to control the outbreak of a novel coronavirus that threatens to grow during the Lunar New Year travel rush.

A health official watches travelers on a thermographic monitor at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Tuesday. Countries both in the Asia-Pacific and elsewhere have initiated body temperature checks at airports, railway stations and along highways in hopes of catching those at risk of carrying a new coronavirus that has sickened more than 400 people in China.

Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Tuesday.

Travelers wearing face masks gather at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, Tuesday.

Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen hangs up a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai, Tuesday.

A child wears a face mask at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, Tuesday.

Health officials watch thermographic monitors at a quarantine inspection station at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Tuesday.

A notice explaining precautions to be taken by people traveling to Wuhan, China, is seen at a terminal of Rome's International Fiumicino airport, Tuesday.

Travelers wearing face masks wait for their flight at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, Tuesday.

A girl wearing a face mask sits among suitcases at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, Tuesday.

People gather outside the Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people related to the market fell ill with a virus in Wuhan, China, Tuesday.

Christian Drosten, director of the institute for virology of Berlin's Charite hospital stands next to a centrifuge after an interview with the Associated Press on his researches on the coronavirus in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday.

Satish Pillai, right, a medical officer for the CDC, speaks Tuesday, at a news conference in Shoreline, Wash., following the announcement that a man in Washington state is the first known person in the United States to catch a new type of coronavirus that officials believe originated in China. Looking on are Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, second from left, and John Wiesman,, left, Washington state Secretary of Health. The man who caught the virus is a Washington state resident who returned last week from China and is currently hospitalized near Seattle.

Li Bin, deputy director of China's National Health Commission, speaks during a press conference about a new type of coronavirus spreading in China at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, Wednesday. Li told reporters that all the deaths had been in Hubei province, home to Wuhan city where the first illnesses from coronavirus were reported in late December.