Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a nucleic acid test of a patient's stool and anal tissue and obtained a positive result for the virus 2019-nCoV, Focus Taiwan on February 2 report.

The results are not surprising because previously, US researchers also found nCoV samples in the waste, said Chang Ko, head of infection control at Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital. He said, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine on January 31, feces samples taken from the first person to detect infection in the United States test positive for nCoV.

The new way of infection makes it even more challenging to stop the spread of the virus, said Shih Shin-ru, head of the New Viruses Research Center at Chang Gung University. Experts in Taiwan recommend that people put the toilet lid on when flushing and wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet to limit the risk of infection.

Finding the virus in human feces is not uncommon, but caution is still needed, warns Hwang Kao-pin, director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Medical University of China. The new transmission route poses a risk because if infected feces are splashed on the toilet flush, the virus can live 2-3 hours in the air and 5 days on the surface of the object.

To reduce the risk of infection, the toilet should be disinfected with alcohol before use and covered when flushing. He also emphasized that washing hands with soap is very important in preventing disease.

Thu Thao (From Focus Taiwan)