Emerg Infect Dis
. 2021 Oct;27(10):2666-2668.
doi: 10.3201/eid2710.211028.
Genetic Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 among Travelers Arriving in Hong Kong
Haogao Gu, Daniel K W Chu, Lydia D J Chang, Sammi S Y Cheuk, Shreya Gurung, Pavithra Krishnan, Daisy Y M Ng, Gigi Y Z Liu, Carrie K C Wan, Ruopeng Xie, Samuel S M Cheng, Benjamin J Cowling, Dominic N C Tsang, Malik Peiris, Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran, Leo L M Poon
- PMID: 34545799
- DOI: 10.3201/eid2710.211028
Abstract
We sequenced 10% of imported severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections detected in travelers to Hong Kong and revealed the genomic diversity of regions of origin, including lineages not previously reported from those countries. Our results suggest that international or regional travel hubs might be useful surveillance sites to monitor sequence diversity.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; coronavirus disease; disease transmission control; genomic diversity; public health; public health readiness; respiratory infections; reverse transcription PCR; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; travel-related disease transmission; viruses; zoonoses.