TY - JOUR
T1 - Genomic variation and epidemiology of SARSCoV- 2 importation and early circulation in Israel
AU - Zuckerman, Neta S.
AU - Bucris, Efrat
AU - Drori, Yaron
AU - Erster, Oran
AU - Sofer, Danit
AU - Pando, Rakefet
AU - Mendelson, Ella
AU - Mor, Orna
AU - Mandelboim, Michal
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Zuckerman et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which causes corona virus disease (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has since led to a global pandemic. Importations of SARS-CoV-2 to Israel in late February from multiple countries initiated a rapid outbreak across the country. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 whole genomes were sequenced from 59 imported samples with a recorded country of importation and 101 early circulating samples in February to mid-March 2020 and analyzed to infer clades and mutational patterns with additional sequences identified Israel available in public databases. Recorded importations in February to mid-March, mostly from Europe, led to multiple transmissions in all districts in Israel. Although all SARS-CoV-2 defined clades were imported, clade 20C became the dominating clade in the circulating samples. Identification of novel, frequently altered mutated positions correlating with clade-defining positions provide data for surveillance of this evolving pandemic and spread of specific clades of this virus. SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread and mutate in Israel and across the globe. With economy and travel resuming, surveillance of clades and accumulating mutations is crucial for understanding its evolution and spread patterns and may aid in decision making concerning public health issues.
AB - Severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which causes corona virus disease (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has since led to a global pandemic. Importations of SARS-CoV-2 to Israel in late February from multiple countries initiated a rapid outbreak across the country. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 whole genomes were sequenced from 59 imported samples with a recorded country of importation and 101 early circulating samples in February to mid-March 2020 and analyzed to infer clades and mutational patterns with additional sequences identified Israel available in public databases. Recorded importations in February to mid-March, mostly from Europe, led to multiple transmissions in all districts in Israel. Although all SARS-CoV-2 defined clades were imported, clade 20C became the dominating clade in the circulating samples. Identification of novel, frequently altered mutated positions correlating with clade-defining positions provide data for surveillance of this evolving pandemic and spread of specific clades of this virus. SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread and mutate in Israel and across the globe. With economy and travel resuming, surveillance of clades and accumulating mutations is crucial for understanding its evolution and spread patterns and may aid in decision making concerning public health issues.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103276624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243265
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243265
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
C2 - 33770098
AN - SCOPUS:85103276624
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 3 March
M1 - e0243265
ER -
