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Signs that coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan earlier than thought, study finds
- Retrospective look at patient samples finds slow build of coronavirus
- Nine patients came from six Wuhan districts, further evidence of wider person-to-person infection
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A look back at samples of patients with flu-like symptoms in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has uncovered signs of coronavirus outbreaks in the wider community in early January – well before the public was even told the pathogen was contagious.
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The coronavirus emerged in late December as a mysterious respiratory infection in dozens of patients, many of them linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the city.
Local health authorities initially thought the patients were sickened through exposure to a common infection source in the market and ruled out the pathogen as contagious until January 20.
It is still unclear whether the wholesale market was the source of the outbreak or a breeding ground for the virus to spread among more people.
The virus has since swept across the planet and infected 1.4 million people, killing more than 80,000.
Researchers with the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention looked at patient samples from October 6 until January 21 to search for undetected cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
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