The authors of a recent study showing that the coronavirus might have been circulating in Italy far earlier than previously thought have stated that their findings do not in any way dispute the Wuhan, China, origin of the virus.

The research, conducted by the National Cancer Institute in the Italian city of Milan and published in the science magazine Tumori Journal, revealed that the virus was likely already present in Milan last September—a full five months before the country’s first coronavirus-positive patient was detected and three months before the initial outbreak was reported in Wuhan.