COVID-19 may have reached Europe as early as 2019: Norwegian study

[See CGTN: http://www.ecns.cn/…/2022…/detail-ihavfwhh0343767.shtml]

New findings by Norwegian researchers show that the novel coronavirus could have arrived in Europe a month earlier than previously thought.

This adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting the coronavirus was spreading globally before the first cases in a Wuhan market captured global attention in December 2019.

An investigation led the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention ruled the market out as the origin place of the outbreak, as none of the animals there tested positive for the virus.

Another study, published in The Lancet medical journal, found that a significant number of the original cases (32%) in Wuhan had no link to the Wuhan market which suggests the market wasn’t the origin site of the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) investigation confirmed the virus didn’t make its initial jump from animals to humans at the Huanan market in Wuhan, rather the evidence suggests the virus was circulating elsewhere prior to this.

The WHO investigation bolstered findings from various studies that suggested the virus was circulating in China and Europe months before officials confirmed the first cases.

However to date, scientists have been unable to identify which animal host in which the virus may have developed or when this occurred. Some researchers suggest that an earlier mild, perhaps largely asymptomatic version of the virus may have been in the human population for years.

A study from Milan’s National Cancer Institute found that coronavirus cases dated back to September 2019.Doctors at Paris hospital discovered that patients they’d treated for pneumonia on December 27, 2019, had Covid-19.

In Spain, sewage sampled on March 12, 2019, also tested positive for traces of the coronavirus.

Another study suggests the virus reached the US’ West Coast in December 2019. Blood samples collected in nine states, including California, Oregon, and Washington, showed that some Americans had coronavirus antibodies (evidence of previous infection) as early as December 13, 2019.

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