According to the studies by the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan, the coronavirus was circulating in the country since September 2019./ VCG“这一发现可能重塑（新冠肺炎）疫情大流行的历史。”据路透社15日报道，意大利米兰国家肿瘤研究所（INT）的一项最新研究显示，该国2019年9月采集的居民血液样本中已测出新冠病毒抗体，这意味着新冠病毒在意大利的传播时间可能要追溯至2019年夏天。这远早于武汉出现疫情的时间，较目前意大利首例新冠肺炎患者出现的时间也提前了五个月。The novel coronavirus was circulating in Italy since September 2019, a new study by the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan finds, three months before it was first reported in China.In December 2019, cases of pneumonia of unknown cause were reported in central China's Wuhan City. The illness was later identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.The new study adds to the possibility that the virus had originated and spread outside China earlier than widely thought.
这项名为“在意大利疫前时期意外检出新冠病毒抗体”的研究论文于当地时间11日发表在米兰国家肿瘤研究所出版的《肿瘤杂志》上。研究人员检测了去年9月至今年3月参与肺癌筛查试验的959名志愿者的血液样本，结果发现，其中111名志愿者血样中存在新冠病毒的受体结合域（RBD）特异抗体，占志愿者总数的11.6%。The Italian researchers' findings, published by the INT's scientific magazine Tumori Journal, show that 11.6 percent of the 959 healthy volunteers enrolled in a lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020, had developed coronavirus antibodies well before February.论文第一作者乔瓦尼·阿波洛内15日对媒体说，去年10月第一周采集的4名志愿者血样中存在这种抗体，这表明他们很可能在去年9月已感染新冠病毒。受体结合域是新冠病毒表面刺突蛋白与人体细胞结合的区域，存在这种抗体表明人体感染过新冠病毒。阿波洛内说，研究发现，无症状感染者不仅血清抗体检测结果呈阳性，而且体内存在“能杀死病毒的抗体”。他指出：“这意味着新冠病毒可以在人群中以低致死率传播很长时间。”“这项研究表明，在意大利报告首例确诊病例前数个月，意大利无症状个体中就出现了新冠病毒传播，其传播时间之早出人意料……可能重塑大流行历史。”
A further specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies test was carried out by the University of Siena for the same research titled "Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the pre-pandemic period in Italy."It showed that four cases dated back to the first week of October were also positive for antibodies neutralizing the virus, meaning they had got infected in September, Giovanni Apolone, a co-author of the study, told Reuters."This is the main finding: people with no symptoms not only were positive after the serological tests but had also antibodies able to kill the virus," Apolone said."It means that the new coronavirus can circulate among the population for long and with a low rate of lethality not because it is disappearing but only to surge again," he added.近日，米兰国家肿瘤研究所专家加布里艾拉·索齐接受了CGTN的专访，针对这项最新研究成果做了一些解答。Gabriella Sozzi, an INT biologist, told CGTN Europe that while Italy's first coronavirus patient was officially detected on February 21 in the northern region of Lombardy, blood samples taken in September 2019 showed the presence of the antibodies against the Sars-Cov-2 virus."What we noticed, and it was unexpected, we found more than 10 percent of the samples presenting antibodies against the COVID-19 virus," said Sozzi. "This finding seems to tell us that the Sars-Cov-2 virus was probably circulating at a low level in Italy before the outbreak that we had in February."据了解，意大利于今年2月21日报告首例本土新冠病例，该患者来自意大利北部伦巴第大区附近的一座小镇。此外，意大利研究人员曾在今年3月接受路透社采访时表示，2019年第四季度伦巴第大区报告的重症肺炎病例数量远高于正常水平。而目前，伦巴第大区仍是意大利疫情最严重的地区。Italian researchers told Reuters in March that they reported a higher than usual number of cases of severe pneumonia and flu in Lombardy in the last quarter of 2019 in a sign that the new coronavirus might have circulated earlier than previously thought.针对意大利这项最新研究结果，中国外交部发言人赵立坚17日在例行记者会上表示——“我们已经看到、听到国际上不断出现关于新冠肺炎疫情暴发时间、地点等报道。这再次印证了病毒溯源是一个复杂的科学问题，应由科学家在全球范围开展国际科学研究与合作，促进对病毒动物宿主和传播途径的了解，目的是更好预防未来可能出现的风险，保护各国人民的生命安全和健康。病毒溯源是一个持续发展的过程，可能涉及多国多地。我们希望各国都采取积极态度，同世卫组织等加强合作，推进全球溯源工作。中方将继续积极参与病毒溯源和传播途径全球科学研究，同国际社会一道，为全球病毒和抗疫合作做出贡献。”
This once again confirms that virus traceability is a complicated scientific issue which may involve many countries and places, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian during a regular press briefing on Tuesday. Zhao also called on all countries to actively promote the process of virus tracing.
这一最新发现引起了不少意大利网友的注意，很多人称去年自己和身边的人就已经出现过感染新冠病毒的症状：“我在12月和1月出现了（新冠）的全部症状。当时还以为是严重的流感，后来觉得并不常见，那发生在人们知道新冠病毒之前。”“我来自罗马，去年11月就有很多人因为严重的呼吸道问题去医院就诊，但医生并没有意识到情况的严重性以及接下来将会发生什么。”“我在去年八月中旬病得很厉害，症状与新冠高度相似，并持续了两个月，当时不确定自己能不能挺过来。我认为这个病毒出现的时间一定比人们之前所说的更早。”他们也表示在事实面前，不能再说“新冠病毒源自中国”了：“……早在武汉疫情暴发之前，新冠病毒就已经在西方传播了。”“如果说（新冠病毒）早就在意大利出现了，那它也许根本就不是起源于中国，而是别的地方。”“这个报告终于让中国摆脱了‘新冠发源地’的恶名，但西方媒体并不会进行报道。中国也是新冠病毒的受害者，并且比其他国家都要更努力地与之搏斗。”
实际上，此前西班牙、意大利和巴西都曾在去年采集的污水中检测出新冠病毒；法国从去年11月住院病人拍摄的胸片中发现带有典型新冠肺炎症状的病例，并从其中的14例病例留下的鼻咽拭子样本里发现新冠病毒。Brazil has recently reported finding the novel coronavirus in the sewage samples from last November in Florianopolis. Previously, Spanish researchers detected the coronavirus in samples taken from wastewater collected in Barcelona in March 2019, and their counterparts in Italy also found traces of the virus in the sewage of Milan and Turin last December. France announced on May 7 that they've found that the earliest cases involving typical COVID-19 symptoms in the country can be traced back to November 16.许多医学研究和例证也都表明，早在去年12月新冠病毒在亚洲暴发之前，该病毒就疑似在多国出现踪迹。点击图片查看此前报道：《又双叒叕提前了！我们与新冠病毒的“邂逅”，比你想的早多了……》↑多名医学界专家也先后对西方政客所宣扬的“武汉病毒”的说法提出批评。The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 may not have originated in China but could have been thriving in a dormant stage in the environment for decades, according to researchers.早在今年5月，牛津大学循证医学中心汤姆·杰斐逊博士就表示，新冠病毒可能并非源自于中国，而是早已“潜伏”在世界各地。
剑桥大学遗传学专家彼得•福斯特通过对44个新冠病毒基因组样本进行分析后在《美国国家科学院院刊》发表文章称，研究表明新冠病毒不是起源于武汉，并依据其实验的基因突变率表示，病毒最早于2019年9月13日就开始传播的可能性达到95%。对此，尽管仍有部分西方主流媒体选择“噤声”，但有一英国媒体在近日报道意大利研究所的新发现时，提及一名67岁的英国男子布赖恩·斯特劳蒂透露自己去年9月曾赴意大利罗马旅游，回来之后出现感染新冠的症状并怀疑自己是英国首例感染者一事，并强调这起病例或能提供佐证。据美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学公布的实时疫情数据，截至北京时间18日下午3时，意大利累计新冠肺炎确诊病例达1,238,072例，死亡病例达46,464例。
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