The coronavirus entered Europe more than once and the first hotbed may have been isolated at Munich in Germany in January, according to a genetic map published Thursday on the Netxstrain site.
The site was founded and directed by a group led by Trevor Bedford, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
The map, a sort of family tree of the virus, indicates that the German hotbed may have silently fed the chain of infection and is linked to many cases in Europe and Italy.
Italy reported its first coronavirus case on February 21.
The patient zero has still yet to be identified.
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