US media： Research shows that Covid-19 spread in Europe and America earlier than the first confirmed case last year.

　　On March 22nd, an Italian man passed an anti-epidemic billboard, which read, "Qi Xin works together and is fearless". （Getty）

　　Overseas network December 23 rd　The US media reported that since the World Health Organization announced the first confirmed cases in Covid-19, the origin of the virus and the real timetable for its global spread remain a mystery. Now more and more evidence shows that the virus had spread in Europe and America for more than several months before the first case in the world.

　　According to Business Insider on 22nd, the first official case of COVID-19 was recorded in Lombardy on February 21st, 2020. However, a recent study found that Covid-19 antibodies were found in blood samples collected from 23 Italians on September and October 27th, 2019. The National Cancer Institute in Milan, Italy, said that the results showed that the cases diagnosed in Lombardy, Italy were earlier than the first officially confirmed case of COVID-19, and even earlier than the first case reported in China. A study conducted by the country’s environment and health department supports this conclusion: Researchers found Covid-19’s genetic material in sewage samples dating back to December 18, 2019 in Milan and Turin.

　　On August 31, people in Barcelona, Spain, lined up for nucleic acid testing. (Associated Press)

　　Spain and France also found clues to the spread of the virus in 2019. In May, doctors in a Paris hospital found that the pneumonia patients they treated on December 27, 2019 should be confirmed cases in COVID-19. However, France did not record its first official case until January 24, 2020. Meanwhile, in Spain, researchers at the University of Barcelona found evidence of Covid-19 in urban sewage samples collected in mid-January 2020 (six weeks before the country’s first official case). Unexpectedly, the sewage samples collected on March 12, 2019 also detected traces of Covid-19.

　　On June 22nd, a few people wore masks on a dock in California. (Reuters)

　　According to reports, by December 2019, the virus had spread to the United States. Research in the United States also provides evidence that the virus has been spreading before humans even know its existence. The United States recorded the first case of COVID-19 on January 20th, 2020. However, according to a study, the virus reached the northwest coast at least a month ago. Blood samples collected by the American Red Cross in nine states, including California, Oregon and Washington, showed that some Americans had Covid-19 antibodies as early as December 13, 2019.

　　Although it is impossible to determine the exact date of the first spread of the virus from animals to humans without more data, many studies show that it is not accurate to say that the epidemic is later than December 2019. Edward Holmes, a virologist at the University of Sydney, told the Guardian: "The initial cross-species transmission event probably did not occur in or near Wuhan." (Overseas network Hou Xingchuan)