Mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, Michael Melham said he has tested positive for coronavirus antibodies and believes he was sick with the virus in November, according to a report by local media NorthJersey.com.
The report said that Melham was sick toward the end of November and suffered from chills, hallucinations and a "skyrocketing temperature" after he left the League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City.
"It felt as if I was an addict going through withdrawal," Melham said in a press release. "I didn't know what was happening to me. I never felt that I could be so sick."
According to the report, the doctor told Melham he had the flu and that he would get better. He did not take a flu test and said he did not travel overseas.
Melham said he later suspected he had contracted the coronavirus in November but dismissed the notion because the earliest cases in the United States weren't reported until January. However, He asked his doctor for the blood test and got the results on April 29.
"The antibody in my blood is older as opposed to the more recent one showing you just finished fighting it off," Melham said. Melham believes he could potentially be an early, undetected case of the coronavirus.
The first known case of the coronavirus in the United States was in January and none have pushed the timeline back as far as November, the report said.
