The World Health Organization's Emergency Committee has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency after convening Thursday afternoon in Geneva.
The Committee met twice last week but held off making the designation that allows the organization to ramp up the international response to the coronavirus.
The WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against panic and overreaction in a press conference announcing the decision.
"WHO doesn't recommend and actually opposes any restriction on travel or trade or other measures against China," he said.
Ghebreyesus, who met with President Xi Jinping in person this week, said the Chinese should be commended for their efforts to contain the disease.
"The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries," he said. "Our greatest concern is for the virus to spread to other countries with weaker health systems that are ill-prepared to deal with it."
In a matter of days, the outbreak has accelerated with more than 7,800 recorded cases and at least 170 people killed, according to China's National Health Commission.
The majority of cases remain clustered around the city of Wuhan in central China. The WHO reported 98 cases in 18 countries outside China.
In addition, the CDC today confirmed the first case of person-to-person transmission in the U.S. A Chicago woman who had recently returned from Wuhan passed the virus onto her husband.
The agency has confirmed a total of five cases between California, Washington, Arizona, and Illinois.
"We understand that this may be concerning, but based on what we know now our assessment remains that the immediate risk to the American public is low," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said.
