Potential fecal transmission of SARS-CoV-2: Current evidence and implications for public health
E. Susan Amirian
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Hubei Province, China in December 2019 and has since become a global pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of cases and over 165 countries affected. Primary routes of transmission of the causative virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are through respiratory droplets and close person-to-person contact. While information about other potential modes of transmission are relatively sparse, evidence supporting the possibility of a fecally mediated mode of transmission has been accumulating. Here, current knowledge on the potential for fecal transmission is briefly reviewed and the possible implications are discussed from a public health perspective.
Topics & Concepts
Transmission (telecommunications)PandemicCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Public healthCoronavirusEnvironmental healthFeces2019-20 coronavirus outbreakPerspective (graphical)VirologyMedicineDiseaseBiologyComputer scienceTelecommunicationsOutbreakMicrobiologyPathologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)Artificial intelligenceCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesInfection Control and VentilationSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research