TOKYO - Japan's health ministry said Friday it had confirmed the country's second case of a novel coronavirus strain, in a man who traveled from the Chinese city of Wuhan.

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In a statement, the ministry said the man in his 40s was a resident of the Chinese city where the outbreak began and arrived in Japan on January 19.

He reported having had a fever for several days before his arrival but said that his condition had stabilized by the time of his arrival in Japan.

On January 22, he reported a fever and he is now in a Tokyo hospital receiving treatment, the ministry said.

The statement added that the man denied having visited the market in Wuhan identified as the source of the outbreak, and said he had worn a medical mask while travelling.

The case was confirmed just over a week after Japanese authorities reported the country's first incidence of the new virus that has killed 18 and infected hundreds of others.

The outbreak has prompted China to effectively quarantine some 20 million people, but the World Health Organization said Thursday that the disease did not yet constitute a global health emergency.

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© Agence France-Presse