图片来源：新华社
COVID-19 was likely in the United States as early as mid-December 2019, weeks before the virus was first identified in China, according to a study released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Nov 30.
美国疾病控制与预防中心11月30日发布的一项研究表明，新冠肺炎病毒可能早在2019年12月中旬就已出现在美国，这比该病毒首次在中国发现提前了数周。
Published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the study pointed out that antibodies specific to the novel coronavirus – evidence of infection – were found in 106 of 7,389 blood samples from residents in nine states in the US.
发表在《临床传染病》杂志上的这项研究指出，在美国九个州收集的7389个居民献血样本中，有106个发现了针对新冠肺炎病毒的抗体，即感染新冠病毒的证据。
Before this report, the earliest case of COVID-19 in the US was reported on Jan 19, 2020, two days after domestic testing was started.
此前，美国国内开展检测的两天后，即2020年1月19日，报告首例新冠肺炎病毒确诊病例。
As The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec 1, the results add to “growing evidence” suggesting COVID-19 was present outside of China earlier than previously known.
正如《华尔街日报》12月1日指出，这一研究结果提供了“越来越多的证据”，表明新冠肺炎病毒在此前已知的时间之前，就已经出现在中国境外。
Researchers at the University of Barcelona in Spain found the presence of the virus genome in wastewater samples collected on March 12, 2019. This suggests that “the infection was present before knowing about any case of COVID-19 in any part of the world”, the university said in a statement in June.
西班牙巴塞罗那大学的研究人员在2019年3月12日采集的废水样本中发现新冠肺炎病毒基因组的痕迹。这表明“在世界任何一个地方发现新冠肺炎病毒确诊病例以前，感染就已经存在”，该大学在6月的一份声明中表示。
In France, scientists found that a man was infected with COVID-19 in December 2019. The patient must have been infected between December 14 and 22, as coronavirus symptoms take between five and 14 days to appear, the BBC reported.
在法国，科学家们发现一名男子在2019年12月便感染了新冠肺炎病毒。英国广播公司报道称，患者应该是在12月14日至22日感染了病毒，因为新冠肺炎病毒感染后需要5至14天才会出现症状。
Although the first COVID-19 patient was detected on Feb 20 in Italy, researchers have found evidence that the virus may have been circulating since September 2019.
尽管意大利是在2月20日发现首例新冠肺炎患者，但是研究人员已发现证据表明，新冠肺炎病毒或自2019年9月已开始传播。
Regarding the new findings, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it will take every detection very seriously and examine every one of them.
对于这些新发现，世界卫生组织表示，将认真对待每一项发现并仔细检测。
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO is committed to doing everything it can to find the origin based on science, as it can help the world prevent future outbreaks, but he urged countries not to politicize it or to create tension in the process.
世卫组织总干事谭德塞表示，世卫组织将在科学的基础上，尽一切努力进行病毒溯源，因为这能帮助全球避免未来疫情再次暴发。但他也敦促世界各国不要将疫情政治化，或在过程中制造紧张局势。
Indeed, finding the source of a virus is a serious matter. The process should be based on science and conducted by experts. China reported cases of what people then called “pneumonia of unknown cause” on Dec 27, 2019, but being the first to report the virus does not mean that the virus had its origin in the Chinese city of Wuhan, noted Xinhua.
的确，病毒溯源是一件严肃的事。这一过程应由专家在科学的基础上进行研究。2019年12月27日，中国报告了几例当时被称为“不明原因肺炎”的病例，但最先报告并不意味着病毒源于中国武汉，新华社如此评论道。
