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Abstract

Background

Tracking person-to-person SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the population is important to understand the epidemiology of community transmission and may contribute to the containment of SARS-CoV-2. Neither contact tracing nor genomic surveillance alone, however, are typically sufficient to achieve this objective.

Aim

We demonstrate the successful application of the integrated genomic surveillance (IGS) system of the German city of Düsseldorf for tracing SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains in the population as well as detecting and investigating travel-associated SARS-CoV-2 infection clusters.

Methods

Genomic surveillance, phylogenetic analysis, and structured case interviews were integrated to elucidate two genetically defined clusters of SARS-CoV-2 isolates detected by IGS in Düsseldorf in July 2021.

Results

Cluster 1 (n = 67 Düsseldorf cases) and Cluster 2 (n = 36) were detected in a surveillance dataset of 518 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Düsseldorf (53% of total cases, sampled mid-June to July 2021). Cluster 1 could be traced back to a complex pattern of transmission in nightlife venues following a putative importation by a SARS-CoV-2-infected return traveller (IP) in late June; 28 SARS-CoV-2 cases could be epidemiologically directly linked to IP. Supported by viral genome data from Spain, Cluster 2 was shown to represent multiple independent introduction events of a viral strain circulating in Catalonia and other European countries, followed by diffuse community transmission in Düsseldorf.

Conclusion

IGS enabled high-resolution tracing of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in an internationally connected city during community transmission and provided infection chain-level evidence of the downstream propagation of travel-imported SARS-CoV-2 cases.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.43.2101089
2022-10-27
2024-12-22
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.43.2101089
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Integrated genomic surveillance enables tracing of person-to-person SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains during community transmission and reveals extensive onward transmission of travel-imported infections, Germany, June to July 2021
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Torsten+Houwaart&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Houwaart Torsten</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Samir+Belhaj&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Belhaj Samir</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Emran+Tawalbeh&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Tawalbeh Emran</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Dirk+Nagels&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Nagels Dirk</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Yara+Fr%C3%B6hlich&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Fröhlich Yara</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Patrick+Finzer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Finzer Patrick</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Pilar+Ciruela&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ciruela Pilar</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Aurora+Sabri%C3%A0&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Sabrià Aurora</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Merc%C3%A8+Herrero&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Herrero Mercè</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Cristina+Andr%C3%A9s&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Andrés Cristina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Andr%C3%A9s++Ant%C3%B3n&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Antón Andrés </a>, <a href="/search?value1=Assia+Benmoumene&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Benmoumene Assia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Dounia+Asskali&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Asskali Dounia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hussein+Haidar&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Haidar Hussein</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Janina+von+Dahlen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">von Dahlen Janina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jessica+Nicolai&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Nicolai Jessica</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mygg+Stiller&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Stiller Mygg</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jacqueline+Blum&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Blum Jacqueline</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Christian+Lange&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lange Christian</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Carla+Adelmann&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Adelmann Carla</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Britta+Schroer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Schroer Britta</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ute+Osmers&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Osmers Ute</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Christiane+Grice&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Grice Christiane</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Phillipp+P.+Kirfel&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kirfel Phillipp P.</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hassan+Jomaa&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Jomaa Hassan</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Daniel+Strelow&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Strelow Daniel</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lisanna+H%C3%BClse&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hülse Lisanna</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Moritz+Pigulla&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pigulla Moritz</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Pascal+Kreuzer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kreuzer Pascal</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Alona+Tyshaieva&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Tyshaieva Alona</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jonas+Weber&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Weber Jonas</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Tobias+Wienemann&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Wienemann Tobias</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Malte+Kohns+Vasconcelos&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kohns Vasconcelos Malte</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Katrin+Hoffmann&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hoffmann Katrin</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Nadine+L%C3%BCbke&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lübke Nadine</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sandra+Hauka&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hauka Sandra</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Marcel+Andree&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Andree Marcel</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Claus+J%C3%BCrgen+Scholz&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Scholz Claus Jürgen</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Nathalie+Jazmati&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Jazmati Nathalie</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Klaus+G%C3%B6bels&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Göbels Klaus</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Rainer+Zotz&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Zotz Rainer</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Klaus+Pfeffer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pfeffer Klaus</a>, <a href="/search?value1=J%C3%B6rg+Timm&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Timm Jörg</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lutz+Ehlkes&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ehlkes Lutz</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Andreas+Walker&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Walker Andreas</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Alexander+T.+Dilthey&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Dilthey Alexander T.</a>, <a href="/search?value1=German+COVID-19+OMICS+Initiative+%28DeCOI%29&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">German COVID-19 OMICS Initiative (DeCOI)</a></span>. Integrated genomic surveillance enables tracing of person-to-person SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains during community transmission and reveals extensive onward transmission of travel-imported infections, Germany, June to July 2021. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2022;27(43):pii=2101089. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.43.2101089" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.43.2101089</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 19 Nov 2021;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 16 Sept 2022 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.43.2101089
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