According to a study by the Italian Higher Institute of Health (ISS), the coronavirus was present in the wastewater of the cities of Milan and Turin as of December 2019, two months before the first officially registered patient in the country.
The first official case of coronavirus contracted in Italy - and outside of China - was reported on February 20, in the small town of Codogno, not far from Milan. However, according to a study, traces of Covid-19 were already present in the wastewater of cities in the north of the peninsula, which later became the epicenter of the epidemic in the country and in Europe, as early as December .
"The study examined 40 wastewater samples collected between October 2019 and February 2020. The results, confirmed by two different laboratories with two different methods, confirmed the presence of RNA (ribonucleic acid, an essential element of a virus, Editor's note) of SARS-CoV-2 in the samples taken in Milan and Turin on December 18, 2019 ", indicates a press release sent on Friday to Agence France-Presse, from the Higher Institute of Health (ISS), public institute of reference.
Link in French ; Italie: le coronavirus était présent dans les eaux usées dès décembre 2019
The first official case of coronavirus contracted in Italy - and outside of China - was reported on February 20, in the small town of Codogno, not far from Milan. However, according to a study, traces of Covid-19 were already present in the wastewater of cities in the north of the peninsula, which later became the epicenter of the epidemic in the country and in Europe, as early as December .
"The study examined 40 wastewater samples collected between October 2019 and February 2020. The results, confirmed by two different laboratories with two different methods, confirmed the presence of RNA (ribonucleic acid, an essential element of a virus, Editor's note) of SARS-CoV-2 in the samples taken in Milan and Turin on December 18, 2019 ", indicates a press release sent on Friday to Agence France-Presse, from the Higher Institute of Health (ISS), public institute of reference.
Link in French ; Italie: le coronavirus était présent dans les eaux usées dès décembre 2019
