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

John Lednicky; Marco Salemi; Kuttichantran Subramaniam; Thomas B Waltzek; Tara Sabo-Attwood; Julia C Loeb; Shannon Hentschel; Massimiliano S Tagliamonte; Simone Marini; Md Mahbubul Alam; Caroline J Stephenson; Maha Elbadry; J Glenn Morris Jr

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245352

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

PLoS One. 2021 Jan 13;16(1):e0245352. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245352. eCollection 2021.

Authors

John Lednicky^{1

2}, Marco Salemi^{1

3}, Kuttichantran Subramaniam^{1

4}, Thomas B Waltzek^{1

4}, Tara Sabo-Attwood^{1

2}, Julia C Loeb^{1

2}, Shannon Hentschel^{1

2}, Massimiliano S Tagliamonte^{1

3}, Simone Marini^{1

3

5}, Md Mahbubul Alam^{1

2}, Caroline J Stephenson^{1

2}, Maha Elbadry^{1

2}, J Glenn Morris Jr^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
² Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
³ Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
⁶ Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.

Abstract

In 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. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus was isolated from the door handle on four of the 19 days sampled. Both SARS-CoV-2 and A(H1N1)pdm09 virus were detected in a 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. Our 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.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring*
Florida
Humans
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / isolation & purification*
Phylogeny
SARS-CoV-2 / classification
SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
Surface Properties
Time Factors
Universities / statistics & numerical data*

Grants and funding

Work was funded in part by an internal grant from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Florida. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.