Three people are being tested for suspected coronavirus in Scotland, the Scottish Government have confirmed.
Professor Jurgen Haas said he believes there will be many more cases from other cities in the UK.
Tests are currently being carried out and none of the patients have been confirmed as having the disease.
They all travelled to Scotland from Wuhan, where the outbreak is thought to have originated, within the past two weeks and are showing symptoms of respiratory trouble, a red flag for the virus.
READ MORE: Coronavirus outbreak: what you need to know
Professor Haas earlier told the PA news agency: "We have currently three cases suspected Wuhan coronavirus in Edinburgh and as far as I understand one case in Glasgow."
He said the cases emerged overnight, adding: "The situation will be pretty similar in pretty much all UK cities with a large number of Chinese students.
"It's not too surprising. My suspicious is that there will probably be many more cases in many other cities in the UK.
"None of the cases I know of have been confirmed."
He said there is only one laboratory testing for the virus, operated by Public Health England (PHE).
The professor said the cases have been flagged up through the PHE infection guidelines as they travelled to Wuhan within the last 14 days and are showing signs of respiratory symptoms.
The disease has killed 17 people and infected nearly 600.
The Chinese Government has effectively locked down Wuhan, cancelling planes and trains there and in the nearby city of Huanggang.
Earlier, Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs the Scottish Government is "closely monitoring" the situation.
The First Minister said: "I should say, that the risk to the public here in Scotland - and indeed the UK - is currently classified as low but that is kept under review.
"Health Protection Scotland are liaising with NHS boards and are currently in daily contact with Public Health England, we're also liaising daily with colleagues in the UK Department of Health - we're also paying very close attention to the advice and the decisions that come from the World Health Organisation."
READ MORE: NHS 'well-prepared' for coronavirus, says Hancock, as China intensifies safety measures
She added: "Advanced monitoring measures are being put in place for flights between Wuhan City and Heathrow, that will involve each flight being met by a port health team who will check for coronavirus and provide information to all passengers.
"We're currently considering whether there is any further information that could be provided at Scottish airports.
"This is an evolving situation which we will monitor extremely closely and the Health Secretary and I will make sure that Parliament is updated in the days and weeks to come."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel