We identified severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in an oropharyngeal swab specimen collected from a child with suspected measles in early December 2019, ≈3 months before the first identified coronavirus disease case in Italy. This finding expands our knowledge on timing and mapping of novel coronavirus transmission pathways.
Keywords: COVID-19; Italy; Milan; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 RNA; coronavirus disease; oropharyngeal swab; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; skin manifestations; viruses; zoonoses.