Coronavirus traces found in March 2019 sewage sample, Spanish study shows
Nathan Allen, Inti Landauro 3 Min Read
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish virologists have found traces of the novel coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before the COVID-19 disease was identified in China, the University of Barcelona said on Friday.
FILE PHOTO: The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. January 29, 2020. Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM/CDC/Handout via REUTERS. The discovery of virus genome presence so early in Spain, if confirmed, would imply the disease may have appeared much earlier than the scientific community thought. The University of Barcelona team, who had been testing waste water since mid-April this year to identify potential new outbreaks, decided to also run tests on older samples. They first found the virus was present in Barcelona on Jan. 15, 2020, 41 days before the first case was officially reported there. Then they ran tests on samples taken between January 2018 and December 2019 and found the presence of the virus genome in one of them, collected on March 12, 2019. “The levels of SARS-CoV-2 were low but were positive,” research leader Albert Bosch was quoted as saying by the university.
The research has been submitted for a peer review. Dr Joan Ramon Villalbi of the Spanish Society for Public Health and Sanitary Administration told Reuters it was still early to draw definitive conclusions. “When it’s just one result, you always want more data, more studies, more samples to confirm it and rule out a laboratory error or a methodological problem,” he said. There was the potential for a false positive due to the virus’ similarities with other respiratory infections. “But it’s definitely interesting, it’s suggestive,” Villalbi said. Bosch, who is president of the Spanish Society of Virologists, said that an early detection even in January could have improved the response to the pandemic. Instead, patients were probably misdiagnosed with common flu, contributing to community transmission before measures were taken.
Prof. Gertjan Medema of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands, whose team began using a coronavirus test on waste water in February, suggested the Barcelona group needs to repeat the tests to confirm it is really the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Spain has recorded more than 28,000 confirmed deaths and nearly 250,000 cases of the virus so far.
教授说也不排除假阳性的可能，也可能是其他呼吸类病毒。
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-science/
coronavirus-traces-found-in-march-2019-sewage-sample-spanish-study-shows-
idUSKBN23X2HQ
Coronavirus traces found in March 2019 sewage sample, Spanish study shows
Nathan Allen, Inti Landauro
3 Min Read
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish virologists have found traces of the novel
coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019,
nine months before the COVID-19 disease was identified in China, the
University of Barcelona said on Friday.
FILE PHOTO: The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel
Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, is seen in an
illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. January 29, 2020. Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM/CDC/Handout via REUTERS.
The discovery of virus genome presence so early in Spain, if confirmed,
would imply the disease may have appeared much earlier than the scientific
community thought.
The University of Barcelona team, who had been testing waste water since mid-April this year to identify potential new outbreaks, decided to also run
tests on older samples.
They first found the virus was present in Barcelona on Jan. 15, 2020, 41
days before the first case was officially reported there.
Then they ran tests on samples taken between January 2018 and December 2019 and found the presence of the virus genome in one of them, collected on
March 12, 2019.
“The levels of SARS-CoV-2 were low but were positive,” research leader
Albert Bosch was quoted as saying by the university.
The research has been submitted for a peer review.
Dr Joan Ramon Villalbi of the Spanish Society for Public Health and Sanitary Administration told Reuters it was still early to draw definitive
conclusions.
“When it’s just one result, you always want more data, more studies, more samples to confirm it and rule out a laboratory error or a methodological
problem,” he said.
There was the potential for a false positive due to the virus’ similarities with other respiratory infections.
“But it’s definitely interesting, it’s suggestive,” Villalbi said.
Bosch, who is president of the Spanish Society of Virologists, said that an early detection even in January could have improved the response to the
pandemic. Instead, patients were probably misdiagnosed with common flu,
contributing to community transmission before measures were taken.
Prof. Gertjan Medema of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands, whose team began using a coronavirus test on waste water in February,
suggested the Barcelona group needs to repeat the tests to confirm it is
really the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Spain has recorded more than 28,000 confirmed deaths and nearly 250,000
cases of the virus so far.
咋办？棉花噫员的中国赔偿法是不是要凉了？
March 2019?
这么早？
闹半天最后不是kung flu是spanish flu 2.0?
华南海鲜市场当初查进口冰冻海鲜了么？
蝙蝠，穿山甲，雪貂，美軍，日本，億大利，叁文魚，下水道，下一個鍋是什麼？
【 在 SandersTrump (TrumpSanders) 的大作中提到: 】
: 咋办？棉花噫员的中国赔偿法是不是要凉了？
还是美锅
【 在 menyaihan (myh) 的大作中提到: 】
: 蝙蝠，穿山甲，雪貂，美軍，日本，億大利，叁文魚，下水道，下一個鍋是什麼？
令鱉現在好像不太敢，只好找歐洲
【 在 Duodenale (十二~指肠) 的大作中提到: 】
: 还是美锅
那找呆弯好了
【 在 menyaihan (myh) 的大作中提到: 】
: 令鱉現在好像不太敢，只好找歐洲
相信只要接着查，还会有更多的证据的。一个证据不够，很多个证据一起摆放在一起，就有说服力了。