Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the prepandemic period in Italy

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Giovanni Apolone*, Emanuele Montomoli*, Alessandro Manenti, ...
First Published November 11, 2020 Research Article
https://doi.org/10.1177/0300891620974755

There are no robust data on the real onset of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and spread in the prepandemic period worldwide. We investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)–specific antibodies in blood samples of 959 asymptomatic individuals enrolled in a prospective lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020 to track the date of onset, frequency, and temporal and geographic variations across the Italian regions. SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific antibodies were detected in 111 of 959 (11.6%) individuals, starting from September 2019 (14%), with a cluster of positive cases (>30%) in the second week of February 2020 and the highest number (53.2%) in Lombardy. This study shows an unexpected very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the first patient was identified, and clarifies the onset and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Finding SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in asymptomatic people before the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy may reshape the history of pandemic.
 
Been quite a few MSM stories about cases in November 2019.

There are also newspaper stories from April, about a September 2019 origin.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Coronavirus may have started spreading in September, experts say

Peter Forster of the University of Cambridge has led a team of researchers who are trying to trace the source of the virus by mapping its genetic history.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

Epidemiologists in Boston have suggested August 2019, as the earliest outbreak in China.
 
does this finding strengthen or weaken the case that the virus originated in Chy-na? (either at the wet market, or the lab)
 
I think the study is suggesting that the virus reached Italy, from China, earlier than originally thought.
 
More evidence here on this from June 2020.

uk.reuters.com

Italy sewage study suggests COVID-19 was there in December 2019

Scientists in Italy have found traces of the new coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019 - suggesting COVID-19 was already circulating in northern Italy before China reported the first cases.
uk.reuters.com uk.reuters.com

I was in Verona last October.

I seem to remember readiung somewhere that China exports a sizeable amount of labour to Italy so plenty of opportunity for circulation and then re-export of the virus back to China
 
I've been saying for some time it was around in 2019.
I got hideously sick last November on a trip to LA (although clearly i contracted it before then), much worse than a cold, but slightly less worse than bad flu. I was going to a lot of gigs before the trip and meeting a lot of people from Europe who were touring out here.
i was bedridden for a couple of days which hasn't happened since i had the flu at age 21.
I had all the symptoms of covid looking back.
Then my wife got sick in january 2020, again worse than a cold not quite as bad as the flu, and i got it again but not as bad as the first time.
My wife tested positive for covid antibodies in august 2020, so she's had it or been exposed to it.
i really ought to be tested for antibodies too.
I'm convinced we both had it in Nov 2019 - Jan 2020.
 
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