1. Retrospective Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Symptomatic Patients Prior to Widespread Diagnostic Testing in Southern California
- Author
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Leonid Kruglyak, Meei-Li Huang, Sukantha Chandrasekaran, Yi Zhang, Omai B. Garner, Joshua S. Bloom, Michelle J. Lin, Laila Sathe, Longhua Guo, Marisol Trejo, Yi Yin, Shah A Mohamed Bakhash, Valerie A. Arboleda, Lasata Shrestha, Catherine Le, Pin-Chieh Wang, Joann G. Elmore, James Boocock, Hong Xie, Evann E. Hilt, Pavitra Roychoudhury, Shangxin Yang, and Alexander L. Greninger
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Microbiology (medical) ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Genomic data ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,diagnostic testing ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Microbiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Clinical Research ,Pandemic ,Medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Respiratory samples ,Lung ,Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures ,Retrospective Studies ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Prevention ,Respiratory pathogen ,Diagnostic test ,COVID-19 ,Pneumonia ,Biological Sciences ,Positive patient ,Los Angeles ,030104 developmental biology ,Infectious Diseases ,Good Health and Well Being ,Pneumonia & Influenza ,business - Abstract
Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused one of the worst pandemics in recent history. Few reports have revealed that SARS-CoV-2 was spreading in the United States as early as the end of January. In this study, we aimed to determine if SARS-CoV-2 had been circulating in the Los Angeles (LA) area at a time when access to diagnostic testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was severely limited. Methods We used a pooling strategy to look for SARS-CoV-2 in remnant respiratory samples submitted for regular respiratory pathogen testing from symptomatic patients from November 2019 to early March 2020. We then performed sequencing on the positive samples. Results We detected SARS-CoV-2 in 7 specimens from 6 patients, dating back to mid-January. The earliest positive patient, with a sample collected on January 13, 2020 had no relevant travel history but did have a sibling with similar symptoms. Sequencing of these SARS-CoV-2 genomes revealed that the virus was introduced into the LA area from both domestic and international sources as early as January. Conclusions We present strong evidence of community spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the LA area well before widespread diagnostic testing was being performed in early 2020. These genomic data demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 was being introduced into Los Angeles County from both international and domestic sources in January 2020.
- Published
- 2022