The first 2019 novel coronavirus case in Nepal

In January, 2020, the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China spread progressively to other countries,1,2 with WHO declaring it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.3 Among the affected countries beyond China (where 12 307 cases and 259 deaths were reported as of Feb 1, 2020) are others in Asia, including Nepal.4 On Jan 13, 2020, a 32-year-old man, a Nepalese student at Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China, with no history of comorbidities, returned to Nepal. Throat swabs obtained from the patient tested positive for 2019-nCoV on real-time RT-PCR assays at the WHO laboratory in Hong Kong. Real-time RT-PCR assays for influenza A and B viruses, and NS1 antigen rapid tests for dengue viruses, scrub typhus, and Brucella spp were negative.