"Antibodies Found in Italy in October 2019"... WHO Requests Further Research Investigation

The first discovery of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China was in December 2019
Italian researchers: "COVID antibodies found in local residents in October 2019"
WHO requests further investigation from the researchers

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to revisit research suggesting that the COVID-19 virus may have already spread in other countries before it was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 1st (local time), WHO has requested a re-investigation from local researchers who proposed the possibility that the COVID-19 virus was already spreading in Italy before the known initial discovery in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

A WHO official stated that the researchers are currently re-examining the sample data that formed the basis of their study at the time, and that the researchers will release a follow-up report soon.

The world's first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019.

However, researchers at the Milan Cancer Institute (INT) in Italy previously published a report indicating that antibodies to a virus similar to COVID-19 had been found in Italy before December 2019.

According to the report, in October 2019, during a lung cancer screening clinical trial conducted on local residents in Lombardy, northern Italy, antibodies to a pneumonia virus were detected in a blood sample taken from one participant.

Italy's first officially recorded COVID-19 case was reported on February 21 last year in a village near Milan in the northern region. Subsequently, COVID-19 rapidly spread mainly in Milan and surrounding cities, with northern Italy suffering the most severe impact during the pandemic.

Giovanni Apolone, the chief researcher at INT, said, "It is possible that a virus similar to COVID-19 was already spreading before the virus was first discovered in China."

Milan, Italy [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

However, the researchers emphasized that this does not confirm the location where COVID-19 first emerged.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.