France’s early COVID-19 case may hold clues to pandemic’s start

A study by French scientists which suggests a man was infected with COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before France confirmed its first cases, could be important in assessing when and where the new coronavirus emerged, experts said on Tuesday.Plastic circles are seen on the ground indicating where to stand to respect social distancing on a platform at the Gare du Nord train station during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Paris, France.

A man identified as the patient told a French TV station that he was surprised to learn that he had contracted COVID-19 since he thought he had flu at the time.

French researchers led by Yves Cohen, head of resuscitation at the Avicenne and Jean Verdier hospitals, retested samples from 24 patients treated in December and January who had tested negative for flu before COVID-19 developed into a pandemic.

The results, published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, showed that one patient – a 42-year-old man born in Algeria, who had lived in France for many years and worked as a fishmonger – was infected with COVID-19 “one month before the first reported cases in our country”, they said.

The World Health Organization said the results were “not surprising”.

“It’s also possible there are more early cases to be found,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. He encouraged other countries to check records for cases in late 2019, saying this would give the world a “new and clearer picture” of the outbreak.

French broadcaster BFM TV identified the man as Amirouche Hammar, a resident of Bobigny, a northeastern suburb of Paris. In an interview with the station, Hammar said when he fell ill last year with a dry cough, fatigue and a fever, he thought he had flu. Doctors at the time could not diagnose him.

“I was surprised,” he said, about being told much later by doctors that he had been suffering from COVID-19. He is fully recovered. He said he had not travelled abroad for months before falling ill, and did not know where he could have been infected.

His wife said she works at a retailer near a Paris airport, and frequently comes into contact with travellers from overseas.

Independent experts said the findings of the French scientists needed more investigation.