Study sheds light on how early coronavirus started circulating in U.S. – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The coronavirus (COVID-19) was silently circulating through the United States in mid-December, a federal study published Monday found, indicating the virus was spreading globally weeks before scientists and health officials previously thought.

The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, analyzed blood samples collected by the American Red Cross in nine states from Dec. 13 to Jan. 17 and found evidence of coronavirus antibodies in 106 of 7,389 donations.

Specifically, 2% of results collected from California, Oregon and Washington (39 out of 1,912 samples collected from those areas) between Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, 2019 confirmed the presence of the virus. Additionally, antibodies were discovered in 67 samples from Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin in early January.

The presence of antibodies indicates an individual was exposed to the coronavirus and that an immune response was triggered.

The CDC previously analyzed seroprevalence the presence of a virus in a population based on blood samples in 10 different cities and states last spring and found the actual numbers of people infected with the virus was actually between two and 13 times higher than was previously confirmed through positive test results.

The latest CDC study adds to the growing evidence that the coronavirus was stealthily circulating through the U.S. and the rest of the world before health officials and the public were aware. While the first confirmed coronavirus case in the U.S. was reported on Jan. 19, the findings suggest the virus had already gained a foothold well before widespread testing was available.

Despite the research, the scientists who conducted the study said widespread community transmission was not likely until late February.

The scientists said the study also reaffirmed the value of blood donations as a source for conducting SARS-CoV2 surveillance, adding that the research will help broaden the understanding of the virus as cases, hospitalizations and deaths once again surge across the country.

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Study sheds light on how early coronavirus started circulating in U.S. - SILive.com