AI Article Synopsis
- COVID-19 was first detected in Colombia on February 26, 2020, in a traveler from Italy, but there's limited information about its origins in the country.
- Researchers sequenced the SARS-CoV-2 virus from 43 clinical samples and analyzed 79 existing genome sequences to study how the virus entered Colombia.
- The study identified multiple introductions of the virus from Europe, documenting over 12 lineages and emphasizing the importance of genome sequencing in understanding the outbreak's evolution and transmission.
Article Abstract
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Colombia was first diagnosed in a traveler arriving from Italy on February 26, 2020. However, limited data are available on the origins and number of introductions of COVID-19 into the country. We sequenced the causative agent of COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), from 43 clinical samples we collected, along with another 79 genome sequences available from Colombia. We investigated the emergence and importation routes for SARS-CoV-2 into Colombia by using epidemiologic, historical air travel, and phylogenetic observations. Our study provides evidence of multiple introductions, mostly from Europe, and documents >12 lineages. Phylogenetic findings validate the lineage diversity, support multiple importation events, and demonstrate the evolutionary relationship of epidemiologically linked transmission chains. Our results reconstruct the early evolutionary history of SARS-CoV-2 in Colombia and highlight the advantages of genome sequencing to complement COVID-19 outbreak investigations.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7706936 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2612.202969 | DOI Listing |
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