On 15 January 2020, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan (MHLW) reported an imported case of laboratory-confirmed 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The case-patient is male, between the age of 30-39 years, living in Japan.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, today informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of a confirmed case of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in a person who travelled to Wuhan, China. This is the second confirmed case of 2019-nCoV that has been detected outside of China, following confirmation of a case in Thailand on 13 January. Considering global travel patterns, additional cases in other countries are likely. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. 2019-nCoV is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

Fourteen new confirmed cases were reported from 8 to 14 January in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.