The presence of COVID-19 found in human sewage in Brazil in November 2019: Brazil researchers

Screenshot of the article SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human sewage in Santa Catarina,Brazil, November 2019

According an research article titled The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human sewage in Santa Catarina,Brazil, November 2019, which was published by Science of the Total Environment,a weekly international peer-reviewed scientific journal covering environmental science, researchers from Brazil universities and research institute confirmed that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in human sewage strongly implies the presence of coronavirus circulation in the Americas as early as 27th November, 2019.

The research group evaluated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), which cause the COVID-19 cases, in samples of human raw sewage in Santa Catarina, Brazil, collected in a period prior to the first clinical report (13thMarch 2020) of the disease in that region.

They found that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage was as early as 27th November 2019, “56 days in advance of thefirst COVID-19 confirmed case in theAmericas (in the USA), 91 days in advance of the first case in Brazil,and 97 days in advance of the first confirmed case in Santa Catarina Region. This demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 was being shed within the community for several months prior to the first cases being reported by regional, national or Pan-American authorities. ”

Therefor, the coronavirus was circulating unnoticed in Brazil since November 2019.

Click the link of original article for more information:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721012651