China says Covid-19 study CLEARS it of any blame after scientists found signs of virus in Italian cancer patients as early as September last year

[beijingwalker]

Coronavirus may have spread to humans as early as October 2019 - study

At least by the summer in 2019 in US

'Respiratory outbreak' being investigated at retirement community after 54 residents fall ill
Two have died and 18 were hospitalized in Virginia, officials said.
By Enjoli Francis
July 11, 2019, 6:32 PM ET

Deadly virus outbreak at Virginia retirement homeAccording to the Fairfax County Health Department, 11 days ago 54 people became ill with symptoms ranging from cough to pneumonia, now the "respiratory illness' left 2 dead and many hospitalized.WTTG

Two people have died and 18 others have been hospitalized after a "respiratory outbreak" at a Virginia retirement community, according to officials.

The Fairfax County Department of Health said that 54 individuals had become ill with "respiratory symptoms ranging from upper respiratory symptoms (cough) to pneumonia" in the last 11 days at Greenspring Retirement Community in Springfield.

In a letter Wednesday to residents obtained by ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington D.C., Greenspring described symptoms as "fever, cough, body aches, wheezing, hoarseness and general weakness."

Benjamin Schwartz, a health department director, told ABC News on Thursday that the outbreak had been reported in the assisted-living and skilled-nursing sections. He said the outbreak began with the first case on June 30.

The sign for Greenspring Retirement Community is shown in Springfield, Virgina.WTTG

The specific cause of the outbreak had not yet been identified but additional tests of samples were being done, according to Schwartz.

The assisted-living and skilled-nursing facility in Greenspring is home to 263 residents, Schwartz said. He said the two patients who died in the outbreak had been hospitalized with pneumonia but were "older individuals with complex medical problems."

"One of the things about skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities is [that] when you have a lot of people in close proximity, who have underlying medical conditions, there is an increased risk for outbreaks," he said. "Seeing a respiratory outbreak in a long-term care facility is not odd. ... One thing that's different about this outbreak is just that it's occurring in the summer when, usually, we don't have a lot of respiratory disease."

Of those initially hospitalized, seven have returned to the retirement home, said Courtney Benoff, regional communications manager for Erikson Living, which owns the retirement home.

The health department said that although there had been no new hospitalizations in the "past couple of days," residents were still getting sick in the outbreak.

In a statement, Greenspring said that its "highest priority is the welfare of those who live and work on campus."

"In keeping with this commitment the community has acted with an abundance of caution, and in partnership with the Fairfax County Department of Health, has taken all necessary measures to fully implement proven infection prevention and control strategies. We remain vigilant in our response and will continue to provide frequent and transparent updates to residents, staff and family members," the retirement home said in a statement.

The Fairfax County Health Department said it is investigating the incident.

The department said that appropriate measures had been taken to reduce the risk of infection and keep residents safe, including closing the facility to new admissions, cancelling group activities, keeping ill residents in their rooms and increasing cleaning.

Residents experiencing any of those symptoms were urged to call the community's medical center.
ABC News' Amanda Maile, Sarah Herndon and Kyra Phillips contributed to the reporting in this story.

 

[tower9]

Correct. It does not. It has been spreading from China to rest of the world much earlier than was disclosed by China.


Coronavirus may have spread to humans as early as October 2019 - study

"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans."
By REUTERS
MAY 7, 2020 10:20


An illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), depicts the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
(photo credit: MAM/CDC/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Advertisement

A genetic study of samples from more than 7,500 people infected with COVID-19 suggests the new coronavirus spread quickly around the world after it emerged in China sometime between October and December last year, scientists said on Wednesday.

Scientists at University College London's Genetics Institute found almost 200 recurrent genetic mutations of the new coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 - which the UCL researchers said showed how it is adapting to its human hosts as it spreads.


"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans," the research team, co-led by Francois Balloux, wrote in a study published in the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.

Balloux said the analysis also found that the virus was and is mutating, as normally happens with viruses, and that a large proportion of the global genetic diversity of the virus causing COVID-19 was found in all of the hardest-hit countries.

That suggests SARS-CoV-2 was being transmitted extensively around the world from early on in the epidemic, he said.

"All viruses naturally mutate. Mutations in themselves are not a bad thing and there is nothing to suggest SARS-CoV-2 is mutating faster or slower than expected," he said. "So far, we cannot say whether SARS-CoV-2 is becoming more or less lethal and contagious."

In a second study also published on Wednesday, scientists at Britain's University of Glasgow who also analyzed SARS-CoV-2 virus samples said their findings showed that previous work suggesting there were two different strains was inaccurate.



JUST ONE VIRUS TYPE CIRCULATING

A preliminary study by Chinese scientists in March had suggested there may have been two strains of the new coronavirus causing infections there, with more of them more "aggressive" than the other.

But, publishing their analysis in the journal Virus Evolution, the Glasgow team said only one type of the virus was circulating.

More than 3.71 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 258,186 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Cases have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since they were first identified in China in December 2019.

The genetic studies offer "fascinating" insights into the evolution of the virus, and emphasize that it is "a moving target with an unknown evolutionary destination," said Jonathan Stoye, head of the division of virology at Britain's Francis Crick Institute.

"All the evidence is entirely consistent with an origin towards the end of last year, and there's no reason to question that in any way," Stoye said.

A study by French scientists published earlier this week found a man in France was infected with COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before authorities there confirmed the first cases.

The World Health Organization said the French case was "not surprising" and urged countries to investigate any other early suspicious cases.

Balloux's team screened the genomes of more than 7,500 viruses from infected patients around the world. Their results add to a growing body of evidence that SARS-CoV-2 viruses share a common ancestor from late 2019, suggesting this was when the virus jumped from a previous animal host into people.
The UCL researchers also found almost 200 small genetic changes, or mutations, in the coronavirus genomes they analyzed - findings Balloux said offered helpful clues for researchers seeking to develop drugs and vaccines.

Coronavirus may have spread to humans as early as October 2019 - study

"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans."

www.jpost.com

I think the whole world agrees and knows from where the Wuhan virus originated. No prizes for guessing that.

Keep telling yourself that, the science says otherwise.

Modi has really led India down a shithole, that's for sure. Don't worry, you'll find out how deep years from now.

 

[Nan Yang]

Correct. It does not. It has been spreading from China to rest of the world much earlier than was disclosed by China.


Coronavirus may have spread to humans as early as October 2019 - study

"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans."
By REUTERS
MAY 7, 2020 10:20


An illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), depicts the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
(photo credit: MAM/CDC/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Advertisement

A genetic study of samples from more than 7,500 people infected with COVID-19 suggests the new coronavirus spread quickly around the world after it emerged in China sometime between October and December last year, scientists said on Wednesday.

Scientists at University College London's Genetics Institute found almost 200 recurrent genetic mutations of the new coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 - which the UCL researchers said showed how it is adapting to its human hosts as it spreads.


"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans," the research team, co-led by Francois Balloux, wrote in a study published in the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.

Balloux said the analysis also found that the virus was and is mutating, as normally happens with viruses, and that a large proportion of the global genetic diversity of the virus causing COVID-19 was found in all of the hardest-hit countries.

That suggests SARS-CoV-2 was being transmitted extensively around the world from early on in the epidemic, he said.

"All viruses naturally mutate. Mutations in themselves are not a bad thing and there is nothing to suggest SARS-CoV-2 is mutating faster or slower than expected," he said. "So far, we cannot say whether SARS-CoV-2 is becoming more or less lethal and contagious."

In a second study also published on Wednesday, scientists at Britain's University of Glasgow who also analyzed SARS-CoV-2 virus samples said their findings showed that previous work suggesting there were two different strains was inaccurate.



JUST ONE VIRUS TYPE CIRCULATING

A preliminary study by Chinese scientists in March had suggested there may have been two strains of the new coronavirus causing infections there, with more of them more "aggressive" than the other.

But, publishing their analysis in the journal Virus Evolution, the Glasgow team said only one type of the virus was circulating.

More than 3.71 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 258,186 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Cases have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since they were first identified in China in December 2019.

The genetic studies offer "fascinating" insights into the evolution of the virus, and emphasize that it is "a moving target with an unknown evolutionary destination," said Jonathan Stoye, head of the division of virology at Britain's Francis Crick Institute.

"All the evidence is entirely consistent with an origin towards the end of last year, and there's no reason to question that in any way," Stoye said.

A study by French scientists published earlier this week found a man in France was infected with COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before authorities there confirmed the first cases.

The World Health Organization said the French case was "not surprising" and urged countries to investigate any other early suspicious cases.

Balloux's team screened the genomes of more than 7,500 viruses from infected patients around the world. Their results add to a growing body of evidence that SARS-CoV-2 viruses share a common ancestor from late 2019, suggesting this was when the virus jumped from a previous animal host into people.
The UCL researchers also found almost 200 small genetic changes, or mutations, in the coronavirus genomes they analyzed - findings Balloux said offered helpful clues for researchers seeking to develop drugs and vaccines.

Coronavirus may have spread to humans as early as October 2019 - study

"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans."

www.jpost.com

I think the whole world agrees and knows from where the Wuhan virus originated. No prizes for guessing that.

Here is the original report by UCL. Nothing mention about China. Basically it says the virus had been circulating around Europe as early as late 2019 base on the variety of mutations.

I am not a virologist, but I think the country with the most variety should the country where the origin is.

Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 offer insights into virus evolution
6 May 2020
By analysing virus genomes from over 7,500 people infected with Covid-19, a UCL-led research team has characterised patterns of diversity of SARS-CoV-2 virus genome, offering clues to direct drugs and vaccine targets.

The study, led by the UCL Genetics Institute, identified close to 200 recurrent genetic mutations in the virus, highlighting how it may be adapting and evolving to its human hosts.

Researchers found that a large proportion of the global genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 is found in all hardest-hit countries, suggesting extensive global transmission from early on in the epidemic and the absence of single ‘Patient Zeroes’ in most countries.

The findings, published today in Infection, Genetics and Evolution, also further establish that the virus only emerged recently in late 2019, before quickly spreading across the globe.

Scientists analysed the emergence of genomic diversity in SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus causing Covid-19, by screening the genomes of over 7,500 viruses from infected patients around the globe. They identified 198 mutations that appear to have independently occurred more than once, which may hold clues to how the virus is adapting.

Co-lead author Professor Francois Balloux (UCL Genetics Institute) said: “All viruses naturally mutate. Mutations in themselves are not a bad thing and there is nothing to suggest SARS-CoV-2 is mutating faster or slower than expected. So far we cannot say whether SARS-CoV-2 is becoming more or less lethal and contagious.”

The small genetic changes, or mutations, identified were not evenly distributed across the virus genome. As some parts of the genome had very few mutations, the researchers say those invariant parts of the virus could be better targets for drug and vaccine development.

“A major challenge to defeating viruses is that a vaccine or drug might no longer be effective if the virus has mutated. If we focus our efforts on parts of the virus that are less likely to mutate, we have a better chance of developing drugs that will be effective in the long run,” Professor Balloux explained.

“We need to develop drugs and vaccines that cannot be easily evaded by the virus.”

Co-lead author Dr Lucy van Dorp (UCL Genetics Institute) added: “There are still very few genetic differences or mutations between viruses. We found that some of these differences have occurred multiple times, independently of one another during the course of the pandemic – we need to continue to monitor these as more genomes become available and conduct research to understand exactly what they do.”

The results add to a growing body of evidence that SARS-CoV-2 viruses share a common ancestor from late 2019, suggesting that this was when the virus jumped from a previous animal host, into people. This means it is most unlikely the virus causing Covid-19 was in human circulation for long before it was first detected.
In many countries including the UK, the diversity of viruses sampled was almost as much as that seen across the whole world, meaning the virus entered the UK numerous times independently, rather than via any one index case.

The research team have developed a new interactive, open-source online application so that researchers across the globe can also review the virus genomes and apply similar approaches to better understand its evolution.

Dr van Dorp said: “Being able to analyse such an extraordinary number of virus genomes within the first few months of the pandemic could be invaluable to drug development efforts, and showcases how far genomic research has come even within the last decade. We are all benefiting from a tremendous effort by hundreds of researchers globally who have been sequencing virus genomes and making them available online.”

The study was conducted by researchers in the UCL Faculties of Life Sciences and Medical Sciences, alongside colleagues from Cirad and Université de la Réunion, University of Oxford, and Imperial College London, and supported by the Newton Fund UK-China NSFC initiative and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

I doubt there is a single origin of COVID-19. Likely different strains of it appears in different places in different times.

 

[That Guy]

I have meet a White British Guy, he said he contracted Covid-19 in France back in Sept/Oct 2019 time.
He said he had all the symptoms we know now, but at the time, it was diagnosed as fever etc.
He said he was severely ill for days with breathing problems before recovering.

And I've met a real life klingon, who said that he contracted the virus from when he met a half-Cardassian wench, when visiting a bar on a federation planet.

My point is, either you're gullible, or are lying.

 

[crankthatskunk]

And I've met a real life klingon, who said that he contracted the virus from when he met a half-Cardassian wench, when visiting a bar on a federation planet.

My point is, either you're gullible, or are lying.

I can chose some choicest words to respond, but I wouldn't do that.
There is no reason for me to lie. I am not a Chinese. The guy has no reason to lie either, he was a white Britisher. Go figure.

 

[retaxis]

Indians wish that countries around the world will punish and blame China lol. Now their dreams are crushed they just sitting in their slums dying and depressed from covid.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Damage already done. They gonna blame us regardless.

That is why I keep saying, if there is one war China is losing, it is called Propaganda War or what is commonly known as Pyschological War.
Trump low profile sponsor uses what is called pyschometrics.
Heard of Cambridge Analytica. It has a branch in USA called Strategic Communication Laboratory.
Steven Bannon, the former US National Security Chief is behind all the fake news about Xinjiang and COVID. He is assigned as the Head of Propaganda News Agency which they bought, called Breitbart News.
He distributed his fabricated lies from this agency and Glittering Steel Video to the anti-China agencies they sponsoring aboard like NTD (Fa Lungong), China uncensored, India WiON, etc etc

That is what is driving Trump re-election campaign but COVID pandemic spoilt it all for them.

Many simple folks and even some lazy educated one in tbeir naivette will believed that all these are true.

It did not work in China.
In China, the folks there trusted their government according to study by Harvard University USA. The Chinese people are very discipline unlike the West. Thatbis how they ovetcome this pandemic just like SARS.

USA thought they can start a revolution in China from aboard but they kept on failing because they failed in their history lessons e.g. Tiananman, Spring revolution, etc

 

[fisher1]

Is that why China banned research about the origin of virus and even removed Chinese articles that conclusively said the virus came from bats.

Nobody believes a Nazi regime. Except Nazi supporters. The whole world knows the reality of CCP Nazi regime.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Chinese virologist rules out Covid-19 virus in fresh tests on old cave samples

In an update to an earlier paper that spawned conspiracy theories, Shi Zhengli details how they found a bat virus ‘96 per cent similar’ to the pandemic coronavirus.

www.scmp.com

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

COVID is nature's punishment against humanity for disobeying nature. There is no single origin of COVID, just as there is no single origin of humanity.

 

[SuperStar20]

Is this a joke? How the researchers find one yrs old virus now in a cancer patients. Every covid patient is either dead or recovered in a month.

Looks like researchers tested with faulty chinese test kits.

Tanzania president questions coronavirus kits after animal test

President Magufuli says tests were found to be faulty after goat, sheep and pawpaw samples test positive for COVID-19.

www.aljazeera.com

Papaya tested positive for corona virus.

People are not fools, china will pay the price soon. I think music starts soon after effective vaccine availability.

 

[Beast]

Is this a joke? How the researchers find one yrs old virus now in a cancer patients. Every covid patient is either dead or recovered in a month.

Looks like researchers tested with faulty chinese test kits.

Tanzania president questions coronavirus kits after animal test

President Magufuli says tests were found to be faulty after goat, sheep and pawpaw samples test positive for COVID-19.

www.aljazeera.com

Papaya tested positive for corona virus.

People are not fools, china will pay the price soon. I think music starts soon after effective vaccine availability.

Lol.. evil Indian of cos will try blame China. Indian shall go claim compensation from italy for failing to report existen of covid-19 as early as sept 2019. While China might need to declare war on italy for secretly attacking China with virus.

Is that why China banned research about the origin of virus and even removed Chinese articles that conclusively said the virus came from bats.

Nobody believes a Nazi regime. Except Nazi supporters. The whole world knows the reality of CCP Nazi regime.

Lol. Haters will always be haters. China join WHO with hundred over countries to search for the origin of covid-19. There is only one country refuse to join and that is US. Very likely if they join , it will trace to US fort Detrick. A sign of guilt since US refuse to join.

 

[fitpOsitive]

China says Covid-19 study CLEARS it of any blame after scientists found signs of virus in Italian cancer patients as early as September last year

• Italian study suggests people may have contracted Covid-19 in September 2019
• China welcomes study, saying the virus' source 'can involve multiple countries'
• Covid antibodies were found in blood taken as part of cancer screening last year
• Scientists say the evidence 'is not solid enough,' to prove at this stage of study

By LUKE MAY FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 07:26 EST, 18 November 2020 | UPDATED: 21:03 EST, 18 November 2020

China says a study into the spread of Covid-19 clears it of any blame as scientists claim there were cases in Italy as early as September last year.

The Italian Cancer Institute says it found the presence of coronavirus antibodies in blood taken from healthy patients in Italy as early as October last year. The presence of antibodies would mean the patient had already contracted the virus.

If correct, the findings would change the history of the pandemic and raise questions of when and where the virus emerged, after it was first identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.


China has seized upon the study, with the country's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian telling state media: 'This once again shows that tracing the virus's source is a complex scientific question that should be left to scientists.

'It is a developing process that can involve multiple countries.'

While China has welcomed the study's findings, several scientists say it requires further examination.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian welcomed the study from the Italian Cancer Institute, which found Covid-19 antibodies in blood samples taken in October last year. The presence of antibodies means the patients may have caught the virus the previous month

Professor Mark Pagel from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, said: 'These results are worth reporting, but mostly should be taken as something to follow up with further testing.

'All of the patients in the study were asymptomatic despite most being 55-65 years old and having been smokers. This would normally be a high-risk group for Covid-19, so it is puzzling why all patients were asymptomatic.'

A co-author of the study said he and his colleagues were planning further investigations and called for scientists worldwide to contribute.

The World Health Organization has said the new coronavirus and Covid-19, the respiratory disease it causes, were unknown before the Wuhan outbreak was reported.

But it has said the possibility that the virus may have 'silently circulated elsewhere' cannot be ruled out.

There have been at least 55,573,000 reported infections and 1,336,000 reported deaths caused by COVID-19 globally since the virus was first detected in China.

Italy's first Covid-19 patient was detected no February 21, but this latest research casts doubt on that, claiming it could have been five months earlier. The country is currently living under a three-tier framework to curb the spread of the virus
Italy's first COVID-19 patient was detected on February 21 in a small town near Milan, in the northern region of Lombardy.

But the Italian researchers' findings show 11.6 per cent of 959 healthy volunteers enrolled in a cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020 had signs of having already encountered the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, most of them well before February.

A further SARS-CoV-2 antibodies test was carried out by the University of Siena for the same research paper, called 'Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the pre-pandemic period in Italy'.

It showed that in six cases, the antibodies were able to kill SARS-CoV-2.

Four of the cases dated back to October 2019, meaning the patients had become infected in September.

'This number (six) is fully compatible with test errors and statistical noise. For these reasons, it seems to me that the evidence brought to support such an extraordinary claim is not solid enough,' said Enrico Bucci, biologist adjunct professor at Philadelphia's Temple University.

'Much ado about nothing,' Antonella Viola, professor of general pathology at the University of Padua, told Reuters.

Both Italian scientists said the antibody test was in-house designed and never validated by other researchers in a peer review.

What was also noticeable was the very high seroprevalence in the research study's population, they said, referring to the percentage of people who may have been exposed to the virus.

'For there to be an epidemic (albeit apparently asymptomatic) on this scale in Italy a full year before the current pandemic that went unnoticed would be a serious issue indeed,' said Stephen Griffin, associate professor at the University of Leeds.

Most of the scientists' scepticism focuses on the so called specificity of the antibody tests, that, if not perfect, might reveal the presence of antibodies to other diseases.

Scientists have cast doubt over the study, with one Italian biologist saying the evidence was 'not strong enough,' at this stage
'Other recent reports have shown that seasonal coronaviruses can elicit cross-neutralising antibodies,' said Jonathan Stoye, group leader at the Francis Crick Institute.

'I think we need a really conclusive demonstration that those samples are picking up the COVID-19 virus and that those antibodies were not actually triggered by another virus,' Andrew Preston, reader in microbial pathogenesis at the University of Bath, told Reuters.

Preston said he was surprised that those requirements weren't needed for the publication of a research paper.

'But it is perfectly feasible to go away and do those extra tests and come back and show that,' he added.

The INT's scientific director and co-author of the study is planning further investigation into the study patients' clinical history.

'We need to understand if they had symptoms of illness. Where they had gone, if they had contact with China,' Giovanni Apolone told Reuters, calling for colleagues globally to 'open their databases and conduct retrospective researches'.

AIDS was also invented by an Italian.

 

[retaxis]

Is this a joke? How the researchers find one yrs old virus now in a cancer patients. Every covid patient is either dead or recovered in a month.

Looks like researchers tested with faulty chinese test kits.

Tanzania president questions coronavirus kits after animal test

President Magufuli says tests were found to be faulty after goat, sheep and pawpaw samples test positive for COVID-19.

www.aljazeera.com

Papaya tested positive for corona virus.

People are not fools, china will pay the price soon. I think music starts soon after effective vaccine availability.

Low IQ boy go read the posts. Italy had virus and anti bodies to the virus 6 months before China. I know in India you guys have no education and live short lives but please at least try to read. You can put down the cow p1ss for one second okay?

Is that why China banned research about the origin of virus and even removed Chinese articles that conclusively said the virus came from bats.

Nobody believes a Nazi regime. Except Nazi supporters. The whole world knows the reality of CCP Nazi regime.

Ur country is far worse treatment to its minorities. I rather live as a minority in China and have as many children as i want then get killed for blasphemy on the streets in ur country.