The association between coronaviruses and central nervous system (CNS) demyelinating lesions has been previously shown. However, no case has been described of an association between the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) and CNS demyelinating disease so far. SARS-COV-2 was previously detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample of a patient with encephalitis. However, the virus identity was not confirmed by deep sequencing of SARS-COV-2 detected in the CSF. Here, we report a case of a patient with mild respiratory symptoms and neurological manifestations compatible with clinically isolated syndrome. The viral genome of SARS-COV-2 was detected and sequenced in CSF with 99.74-100% similarity between the patient virus and worldwide sequences. This report suggests a possible association of SARS-COV-2 infection with neurological symptoms of demyelinating disease, even in the absence of relevant upper respiratory tract infection signs.
Keywords: COVID-19; Cerebrospinal fluid; Clinically isolated syndrome; SARS-COV-2.