The coronavirus epidemic has sparked worldwide fears over an impending pandemic, but there's a lot of misinformation about the crisis. Dr. Kara Cecil, assistant professor of public health at the University of Indianapolis, joined Indiana Public Broadcasting's All IN to separate fact from fiction.
"What we really want to pay attention to is the person-to-person transmissions not related to travel," she says. "That would indicate it is spreading in this country."
Cecil says several myths have been spreading about the virus. She says there's no scientific merit to claims that coronavirus spreads via mail from China, household pets transmit the virus, and some races are affected differently.
As of March 3, there have been six confirmed deaths in the United States from the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization have more information about coronavirus.
Note: The number of coronavirus cases worldwide and in the U.S. are changing rapidly; the recorded interview may include out-of-date totals.
