[ad_1]
Covid-19 may have been present in Italy months before Wuhan reported a cluster of pneumonia cases to the World Health Organization (WHO), a new study suggests.
The researchers believe the findings may “reshape the history of [the] pandemic”.
The study, published in the Tumor diary, analyzed 959 blood samples from people across Italy who participated in a lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020.
Covid-19 antibodies were detected in 11.6 percent of these samples. Of these, 14 percent were from September 2019, about 30 percent were detected in the second week of February, and more than half, 53.2 percent, were from the Lombardy region, one of the regions. most affected in Europe. in April.
READ MORE:
* Canterbury investigation could save thousands of lives as Covid-19 resurfaces globally
* Not our beef, says PM after ‘Covid-19’ found in produce in China
* Covid-19: mandatory masks on airplanes, Auckland public transport from Thursday
* Covid-19: Who needs to wear a mask in public transport? The new rules, explained
Italy officially reported its first Covid-19 case in late January. Since then, it has recorded 1.17 million infections and more than 45,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The lung cancer trial was tracking the geographic variations of lung cancer in different regions of Italy, but instead painted a picture of undetected Covid-19 transmission at a time when the virus had not been heard of.
“This study shows a very early and unexpected circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic people in Italy several months before the first patient was identified,” the study researchers wrote.
Marco Alpozzi / LaPresse via AP
New research suggests that Covid-19 was present in Italy months before the first case reported in the country.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission informed the WHO of a cluster of pneumonia cases on December 31, 2019. Infections in the city may have been present since December 10, according to the Wall street journal.
The suggestion that the virus was present in Italy earlier than reported is not new. Italy’s National Institute of Health (ISS) was part of a study analyzing the wastewater from two northern cities. The samples, collected in December 2019, showed traces of the virus, according to The independent.
Additional tests on old samples in France earlier in the year also showed the virus was present earlier than originally thought. A swab taken at a hospital near Paris on December 27 tested positive for Covid-19 in May.
After these findings from France were published, the WHO encouraged all countries to investigate any pending suspected cases.
“This gives a whole new picture of everything,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a UN conference in May. “The findings help to better understand the possible circulation of the Covid-19 virus.”
The zoonotic virus was initially linked to a wet market in Wuhan of China. The zoonotic virus is part of the coronavirus family, similar to SARS and MERS.
