Three COVID-19 cases with a long-term viral shedding period in Tunisia

Bennasrallah, Cyrine; Bannour, Rania; Jlassi, Olfa; Kacem, Mariem; Fredj, Manel Ben; Abroug, Hela; Zemni, Imen; Garrach, Behaeddine; Bahri, Rihab; Charfeddine, Nesrine; Triki, Sayda; Sriha, Asma Belguith

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a public health emergency of international concern. This was first emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and then has become widespread all over the world. We report 3 cases (2 imported cases and 1 local case) with documented viral shedding (based on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing) of SARS-CoV-2 for 55, 59 and 63 days. Viral shedding duration was defined as the date of return from the COVID-19 pandemic countries for imported cases and from the first positive RT-PCR test for local cases, up to the second negative nasopharyngeal RT-PCR swab. These cases demonstrate that viral shedding after COVID-19 diagnosis can be prolonged.