---
title: "Deadly Coronavirus May Be Spreading Through Poop"
description: "According a report, researchers confirmed that COVID-19 patients had \"live virus in stool specimens\" suggesting it can be transmitted through poop."
date: "2020-02-20"
modified: "2020-02-20"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-spreading-fecal-matter-poop"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid-19"
  - "virus"
---

# Deadly Coronavirus May Be Spreading Through Poop

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/coronavirus-spreading-through-poop.jpg>)
*NIAID/Victor Tangermann \<em\>Image: NIAID/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

According a report published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) last week, researchers were able to confirm COVID-19 patients had "live virus in stool specimens" suggesting that the vicious virus called 2019-nCoV can be transmitted through fecal matter.

The spread through only "respiratory droplets and contact transmission" weren't able to fully account for all cases of the deadly COVID-19 according to the report, leading to searchers examining other ways the virus spreads.

"This virus has many routes of transmission, which can partially explain its strong transmission and fast transmission speed," reads the report.

A [different study](<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22221751.2020.1729071>) was able to reproduce these findings independently, finding the virus in both blood and anal swabs of COVID-19 patients, as [*LiveScience* reports](<https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-covid-19-spread-through-feces.html>).

As for what you can do to minimize risk, the [advice](<https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200217-sitrep-28-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=a19cf2ad_2>) remains largely the same, as issued by the World Health Organization: wash your hands frequently, avoid unprotected contact with farm animals, and keep a distance from those who are showing symptoms.

China CDC additionally recommends "drinking boiled water, avoiding raw food consumption," and "disinfecting of surfaces of objects in households, toilets, public places, and transportation vehicles," among other suggestions.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)