The Chinese coronavirus continues to spread globally, with one confirmed case in the US and a potential infection in Australia.

US health authorities confirmed the country's first case on Wednesday (NZT) after a man returned from China and had flu-like symptoms.

CNN said the patient, who is in his 30s, is in isolation at a hospital in Washington state.

He returned from Wuhan - where the outbreak began - on January 15, which was before any health screenings for the virus began at US airports. He then sought medical care on January 19.

Doctors initially diagnosed him with pneumonia, but it was later confirmed he had the coronavirus.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now contacting and tracing people he was in contact with to see if he has spread the disease.

On our doorstep?

An Australian man may also have the virus and is currently quarantined at his home in Brisbane with flu-like symptoms, The Guardian reported.

He had recently also travelled to Wuhan, and officials are awaiting the results of tests to confirm whether he has the disease.

The virus has so far infected more than 300 people, mostly in China, and killed six. Patients have also been identified in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency.

The virus is believed to belong to the same group of coronaviruses as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally in a 2002-2003 outbreak. That illness also began in China.

There is currently no vaccine for the virus, and officials are trying to understand how efficiently it spreads to understand its potential threat.

There are also concerns about the spread of the virus as China enters its busiest travel season - the Chinese New Year.

"Our commission will step up our guard during the Spring Festival, pay close attention to the development and change of the epidemic, and direct the implementation of prevention and control measures," China's National Health Commission said on Monday.

Airports in China, the United States and Canada have begun screening passengers from Wuhan. However, WHO is yet to recommend any restriction to trade or travel.