The COVID-19 virus was found in a four-year-old boy who was initially thought to have measles in November 2019, according to a study by Milan state university published Wednesday in the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, showing that the virus was circulating in Italy much earlier than hitherto believed.
The boy began to feel unwell on November 21 with a cough and rhinitis, the study said.
A subsequent swab revealed the presence of the SarsCov2 virus.
The novel coronavirus was thus found in Italy at least three months earlier than the hitherto-believed 'patient 1' at Codogno in Lombardy.
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