Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 6, 2020

SARS-COV-2 was already spreading in France in late December 2019

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  • Deslandes et al. report the retrospective identification by RT-PCR of a patient with SARS-CoV-2 in Paris in December 2019. The patient hospitalized in December 2019 for hemoptysis with no etiological diagnosis. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in a stored respiratory sample. Based on this result, it appears that SARS-CoV-2 was already spreading in France in late December 2019, a month before the official first cases in the country.  

Deslandes et al. (May 3, 2020). SARS-COV-2 was already spreading in France in late December 2019. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.106006