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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaPolitics

Coronavirus: scientists identify possible new mode of transmission in human faeces

  • Genetic traces of the new coronavirus have been found in the stool of patients being treated at a hospital in Shenzhen
  • The findings have prompted researchers to warn of possible faecel-oral spread of the disease, in addition to respiratory droplet transmission and contact

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Researchers from a hospital in the city of Shenzhen have warned about possible faecel-oral transmission of coronavirus. Photo: Xinhua
Zhuang Pinghuiin Beijing

Chinese scientists have found traces of the new coronavirus in the faeces of some infected patients, possibly indicating an additional mode of transmitting the deadly disease.

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Health authorities had previously thought the main ways the disease was spread was through respiratory droplet transmission and contact, including touching the face after exposure to a surface containing the virus.

But new findings from Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital raise the possibility of faecel-oral transmission, after researchers found genetic traces of coronavirus in patients’ stool samples.

The presence of the 2019 coronavirus RNA, or ribonucleic acid – a molecule that carries genetic codes in some viruses – indicates the disease may live in faeces, the Shenzhen Health Commission said in a statement on Saturday.

The results have echoed similar findings elsewhere, including in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak, and the United States, with some scientists saying the research shows it was possible the virus was transmitted via human excrement.
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