Earliest detection to date of SARS-CoV-2 in Florida: Identification together with influenza virus on the main entry door of a university building, February 2020

BackgroundQuestions persist about patterns of initial dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States in early 2020.MethodsIn February and March, 2020, environmental surface swab samples were collected from the handle of the main entry door of a major university building in Florida, as part of a pilot surveillance project screening for influenza. Samples were taken at the end of regular classroom hours, between the dates of February 1-5 and February 19-March 4, 2020. ResultsInfluenza H1N1pdm09 was isolated from the door handle on four of the 19 days sampled. Both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus were detected in the sample collected on February 21, 2020. Based on sequence analysis, the Florida SARS-CoV-2 strain (designated UF-11) was identical to strains being identified in Washington state during the same time period, while the earliest similar sequences were sampled in China/Hubei between Dec 30th 2019 and Jan 5th 2020. The first human case of COVID-19 was not officially reported in Florida until March 1st. In an analysis of sequences from COVID-19 patients in this region of Florida, there was only limited evidence of subsequent dissemination of the UF-11 strain. Identical or highly similar strains, possibly related through a common transmission chain, were detected with increasing frequency in Washington state between end of February and beginning of March. ConclusionsOur data provide further documentation of the rapid early spread of SARS-CoV-2, and underscore the likelihood that closely related strains were cryptically circulating in multiple U.S. communities before the first “official” cases were recognized.