A professor at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) campus in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, may be the first case of the coronavirus in Mexico, according to state Health Secretary Gloria Molina.

After a recent trip to China, the 57-year-old molecular biologist was hospitalized after showing symptoms of a cough and runny nose.

“This doctor went to China on December 25 and was in the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak occurred, and returned to Mexico on January 10. He spent a day at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City and later traveled to Reynosa,” Molina said.

The patient is of Asian descent and is a researcher of viral and bacterial pathogenesis at the IPN genomic biotechnology laboratory in Reynosa.

He does not show signs of a fever and diagnostics are being run to detect the presence of a respiratory virus.

Health authorities said the scientist had a cough on January 13 and a runny nose on January 16, but has not had any chest pain or a sore throat.

In response to the possibility that the coronavirus has arrived in Mexico, the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) called an extraordinary meeting at the Tijuana airport to discuss measures and protocols to be taken at the country’s only airport that receives direct flights from China.

Representatives of the National Immigration Institute (INM), customs, the Secretariat of National Defense and the Baja California Secretariat of Health attended the meeting held on Wednesday.

The Tijuana airport has one flight, operated by Hainan Airlines, that arrives from Beijing on Mondays and Fridays.

Sources: Milenio (sp)