CDC Report On Faeces And Coronavirus Will Change How You Use The Bathroom

When it comes to the transmission of SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, the focus has been on the droplets that spray from our mouths and out into the world.

- Himshikha Shukla

New findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that focus was near-sighted. According to a new report SARS-CoV-2 can be possibly be transmitted through human feces as well.

Live, infectious SARS-CoV-2 was found in the stool sample of a 78-year-old severely sick Covid19 patient. This finding was published this week in the CDC's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. This indicates “the need for appropriate precautions to avoid potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from feces,” the study team writes.

Brennan Spiegel is the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology and a professor of medicine at Cedars Sinai. He tells that this study represents A shift in the way we think about the risk of spreading coronavirus through stool. Scientists have been tracing levels of viral RNA — genetic calling cards for coronavirus — in feces for several months. Previous studies conducted in China found viral RNA lingering on anal swabs, on toilet seats, and in fecal samples.

VIRAL RNA ACTS LIKE A FOOTPRINT

Viral RNA acts like a footprint: It tells scientists that SARS-CoV-2 was present in the person who made the feces. The presence of these genetic signatures is also the basis for the respiratory tests that also evaluate for Covid-19. But prior to now, scientists were not entirely convinced that the presence of SARS-Cov-2 in feces actually indicated that the virus COULD BE SPREAD through the feces.