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Abstract

An outbreak of 59 cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) originated with 13 cases linked by a 7 h, 17% occupancy flight into Ireland, summer 2020. The flight-associated attack rate was 9.8–17.8%. Spread to 46 non-flight cases occurred country-wide. Asymptomatic/pre-symptomatic transmission in-flight from a point source is implicated by 99% homology across the virus genome in five cases travelling from three different continents. Restriction of movement on arrival and robust contact tracing can limit propagation post-flight.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.42.2001624
2020-10-22
2024-12-22
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.42.2001624
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A large national outbreak of COVID-19 linked to air travel, Ireland, summer 2020
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Nicola+Murphy&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Murphy Nicola</a>, <a href="/search?value1=M%C3%A1ir%C3%ADn+Boland&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Boland Máirín</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Niamh+Bambury&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Bambury Niamh</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Margaret+Fitzgerald&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Fitzgerald Margaret</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Liz+Comerford&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Comerford Liz</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Niamh+Dever&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Dever Niamh</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Margaret+B+O%E2%80%99Sullivan&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">O’Sullivan Margaret B</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Naomi+Petty-Saphon&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Petty-Saphon Naomi</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Regina+Kiernan&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kiernan Regina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mette+Jensen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Jensen Mette</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lois+O%E2%80%99Connor&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">O’Connor Lois</a></span>. A large national outbreak of COVID-19 linked to air travel, Ireland, summer 2020. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2020;25(42):pii=2001624. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.42.2001624" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.42.2001624</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 06 Oct 2020;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 21 Oct 2020 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.42.2001624
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.42.2001624
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