Traces of coronaviruses found in Italy’s sewage since early December
According to new researches, the coronavirus found in Italy’s Milan and Turin’s sewage systems as early as December, 2 months prior to the initial COVID-19 cases were detected in Italy.
Giuseppina La Rosa, who led the research for a coming study from the country’s ISS National Health Institute, said “Traces of SARS-Cov-2 have been detected in the samples of sewage water collected in Milan and Turin on 18 December and in Bologna on 29 January”. “Even more traces were spotted in various other test samples through January and February”.
The results belong to a routine round of testing on environmental virology that’s been performed by the ISS’s environment and health department since 2007. On the whole, 40 samples were assessed from October 2019 to February 2020 with an added 24 samples from September 2018 to June 2019 uses as controls.
The first case in China was confirmed at the end of December. The first case in Italy was confirmed in mid-February. French scientists said, “In May tests on samples showed a patient treated for suspected pneumonia near Paris on 27 December actually had the COVID-19”.
La Rosa said, “The new ISS research might contribute to clarify the first phase of the virus’s circulation in Italy”. The outcomes are consistent with similar tests on sewage water in Barcelona as well as with clinical examinations on patients hospitalized in France, which revealed biological traces of the virus as early as last December.
Author: Sruthi S
