Before first reported cases in US, five states had coronavirus infections: study

By
Reuters
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The coronavirus as seen through a microscope. — Reuters/File
The coronavirus as seen through a microscope. — Reuters/File

  • Seven people in five US states were infected with coronavirus.
  • Study suggests virus was present since December 2019.
  • United States has so far reported 33.6 million cases.


A large new government study has pointed out that coronavirus was present in United States as early as December 2019 after it emerged that at least seven people in five states were infected with it.

Participants who reported antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were likely exposed to the virus at least several weeks before their sample was taken as the antibodies do not appear until about two weeks of infection, the researchers said.

The samples came from Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and were part of a study of more than 24,000 samples taken for a National Institutes of Health research program between January 2 and March 18, 2020.

Of the seven samples, three were from Illinois, where the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported on January 24, while the remaining four states had one case each. Samples from participants in Illinois were collected on January 7 and Massachusetts on January 8.

The data suggests the virus was in the US states far from the initial hotspots and areas that were considered its points of entry into the country, the study said. 

"Data suggest that more rapid and widespread implementation of testing could have allowed us to better realize the spread might have been worse than initially thought, perhaps influencing our level of response," said Micheal Breen, director of infectious diseases and ophthalmology at GlobalData.

The data backs a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that suggested the virus may have been circulating in the United States well before the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed on January 19, 2020.

"This study allows us to uncover more information about the beginning of the US epidemic," said Josh Denny, a co-author of the study that was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The United States has so far reported 33.6 million cases, according to a Reuters tally.