The novel coronavirus that ignited the pandemic has struck US citizens in mid-December 2019 according to a recent study. Analysis of blood specimens from over 20,000 Americans showed evidence that the virus had already infected people weeks prior to identification in China and more than a month before public health authorities reported the first US cases.
Inconspicuous COVID-19 Cases
In a study published in the National Library of Medicine, entitled Serologic Testing of US Blood Donations to Identify Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-Reactive Antibodies: December 2019-January 2020, found evidence via blood specimens that 9 people across the states of Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Illinois had detectable COVID-19 antibodies when they participated in last year's All of Us Research Program, a movement which collects more than one million health data in the US, in search for an improved health of each citizens.
A blood specimen from an Illinois-based patient last January 7th of 2020 conveyed that the virus may had been inconspicuously present in the state as early as Christmas eve of 2019, roughly a month before Illinois reported its first official case last January 24, 2020.
Other blood specimens positive for COVID antibodies were collected from Massachusetts on January 8, 2020, Wisconsin on February 3, 2020, Pennsylvania on February 15, 2020, and Mississippi on March 6, 2020 weeks before health experts recognized cases in the said states according to Yahoo News.
Backtracking the COVID-19 Situation
Recent findings strengthen previous evidence suggesting that the infamous virus was spreading steadily across the globe before health authorities and researchers were aware, everting earlier statements on how early it began and how quickly it subdued the population.
Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found irrevocable evidence of infection in roughly 106 of more than 7,300 blood donations collected by the Red Cross from residents across nine states as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Scientists based the study published in a government journal on blood samples collected by the American Red Cross on December 13, 2019 and January 17, 2020 which were sent to the CDC for testing if any had contained antibodies to COVID-19.
The authors wrote that the SARS-CoV-2 infections were possibly present in the US in December of 2019 earlier than what many experts believed.
Antibodies are developed in a person's immune system after exposure to pathogens as a way for the body to combat the presence of the virus. Their presence in the blood samples strongly suggests early exposure to the virus.
Analyzing the samples, CDC scientists found 39 samples from Washington, Oregon, and California to contain antibodies. Findings suggest that these were isolated cases of COVID-19 infections on the West Coast in mid-December.
There were 67 samples containing antibodies found also from states in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island between December 30th and January 17th. The samples indicate that cases have become more dispersed yet remained isolated by early 2020.
Scientists have ruled out the possibility that the detected antibodies developed from exposure to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold. This was done by analyzing antibodies specific to the new coronavirus from 90 different samples.
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