Washington, Jan 28 (IANS): The US has raised its travel alert for China and was recommending that Americans should "reconsider" travelling to the Asian giant due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has already killed over 100 people in the country.

On Monday, the State Department said that it had raised the travel alert level from 2 to 3, calling on US citizens to "reconsider travel to China due to ... coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. Some areas have increased risk", reports Efe news.

In addition, the US government recommended not travelling to the Chinese province of Hubei, the capital of which is Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The State Department had recently ordered all non-emergency American personnel and family members to leave Hubei province and warning that the "US government has limited ability to provide emergency services" to its citizens, adding that travellers should be prepared for Beijing to impose travel restrictions "with little or no advance notice".

In the US, five people have been diagnosed with the virus.

As of Tuesday, the toll in China increased to 106, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions.

The symptoms of the coronavirus, preliminarily designated 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization, in many cases resemble those of the common cold, but they can be accompanied by fever and fatigue, a dry cough and respiratory difficulties.

For the moment, the WHO has decided not to declare an international emergency over the virus.