US health officials urge Americans to prepare for spread of coronavirus

The announcement signaled a change in tone for the health agency, which had largely been focused on efforts to stop the virus from entering the US and quarantining individuals traveling from China.

The US . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday alerted Americans to begin preparing for the spread of coronavirus in the United States after infections surfaced in several more countries.

The announcement signaled a change in tone for the Atlanta-based US  health agency, which had largely been focused on efforts to stop the virus from entering the country and quarantining individuals traveling from China.

"The data over the past week about the spread in other countries has raised our level of concern and expectation that we are going to have community spread here," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the CDC's