<p>A German man who contracted the novel strain of coronavirus was infected by a colleague visiting from China, officials said on Tuesday, in what appeared to be the first human-to-human transmission in Europe.</p>.<p>Other confirmed cases in Europe of the viral outbreak have so far involved patients who had recently been to China.</p>.<p>In this instance, the 33-year-old German attended a training session held by a visiting Chinese colleague on January 21 at the office of car parts supplier Webasto in Stockdorf, in Germany's southern Bavaria region.</p>.<p>The Chinese woman "started to feel sick on the flight home on January 23", said Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety.</p>.<p>The German man tested positive for the virus on Monday evening after reporting flu-like symptoms.</p>.<p>He remains in hospital in an isolation ward, but Zapf said he "was doing well".</p>.<p>A spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's centre for disease prevention and control, told AFP the German case appeared to be the first instance of a "human-to-human transmission" outside Asia.</p>.<p>Vietnam and Japan have also each reported a patient testing positive for the new coronavirus without having travelled to China.</p>.<p>The Chinese woman working for Webasto immediately sought medical attention on her return to China.</p>.<p>She was confirmed to have caught the virus, which has spread rapidly in recent weeks after first emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan.</p>.<p>The woman had recently visited her parents in the Wuhan region, Zapf said.</p>.<p>In a statement, the Webasto company said it had halted all business travel to and from China "for at least the next two weeks".</p>.<p>Health officials are checking some 40 people that the two infected workers have been in contact with recently, including colleagues and family members.</p>.<p>The virus has so far killed 106 people and infected over 4,000 -- the bulk of them in and around Wuhan.</p>.<p>Cases have also been reported in a string of other countries, including the United States, France, Australia and Japan.</p>
<p>A German man who contracted the novel strain of coronavirus was infected by a colleague visiting from China, officials said on Tuesday, in what appeared to be the first human-to-human transmission in Europe.</p>.<p>Other confirmed cases in Europe of the viral outbreak have so far involved patients who had recently been to China.</p>.<p>In this instance, the 33-year-old German attended a training session held by a visiting Chinese colleague on January 21 at the office of car parts supplier Webasto in Stockdorf, in Germany's southern Bavaria region.</p>.<p>The Chinese woman "started to feel sick on the flight home on January 23", said Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety.</p>.<p>The German man tested positive for the virus on Monday evening after reporting flu-like symptoms.</p>.<p>He remains in hospital in an isolation ward, but Zapf said he "was doing well".</p>.<p>A spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's centre for disease prevention and control, told AFP the German case appeared to be the first instance of a "human-to-human transmission" outside Asia.</p>.<p>Vietnam and Japan have also each reported a patient testing positive for the new coronavirus without having travelled to China.</p>.<p>The Chinese woman working for Webasto immediately sought medical attention on her return to China.</p>.<p>She was confirmed to have caught the virus, which has spread rapidly in recent weeks after first emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan.</p>.<p>The woman had recently visited her parents in the Wuhan region, Zapf said.</p>.<p>In a statement, the Webasto company said it had halted all business travel to and from China "for at least the next two weeks".</p>.<p>Health officials are checking some 40 people that the two infected workers have been in contact with recently, including colleagues and family members.</p>.<p>The virus has so far killed 106 people and infected over 4,000 -- the bulk of them in and around Wuhan.</p>.<p>Cases have also been reported in a string of other countries, including the United States, France, Australia and Japan.</p>