tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Transl Med
. 2020 Nov 23;eabe2555.
doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abe2555. Online ahead of print.
Genomic epidemiology of superspreading events in Austria reveals mutational dynamics and transmission properties of SARS-CoV-2
Alexandra Popa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jakob-Wendelin Genger[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael D Nicholson[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Thomas Penz[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daniela Schmid[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Stephan W Aberle[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Benedikt Agerer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alexander Lercher[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lukas Endler[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Henrique Cola?o[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mark Smyth[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael Schuster[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Miguel L Grau[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Francisco Mart?nez-Jim?nez[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Oriol Pich[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Wegene Borena[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Erich Pawelka[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Zsofia Keszei[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Martin Senekowitsch[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jan Laine[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Judith H Aberle[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Monika Redlberger-Fritz[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Mario Karolyi[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Alexander Zoufaly[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Sabine Maritschnik[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Martin Borkovec[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Peter Hufnagl[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Manfred Nairz[SUP] 9 [/SUP], G?nter Weiss[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Michael T Wolfinger[SUP] 10 11 [/SUP], Dorothee von Laer[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Giulio Superti-Furga[SUP] 1 12 [/SUP], Nuria Lopez-Bigas[SUP] 6 13 [/SUP], Elisabeth Puchhammer-St?ckl[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Franz Allerberger[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Franziska Michor[SUP] 2 14 [/SUP], Christoph Bock[SUP] 1 15 [/SUP], Andreas Bergthaler[SUP] 16 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Superspreading events shaped the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and their rapid identification and containment are essential for disease control. Here we provide a national-scale analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) superspreading during the first wave of infections in Austria, a country that played a major role in initial virus transmissions in Europe. Capitalizing on Austria's well-developed epidemiological surveillance system, we identified major SARS-CoV-2 clusters during the first wave of infections and performed deep whole-genome sequencing of more than 500 virus samples. Phylogenetic-epidemiological analysis enabled the reconstruction of superspreading events and charts a map of tourism-related viral spread originating from Austria in spring 2020. Moreover, we exploited epidemiologically well-defined clusters to quantify SARS-CoV-2 mutational dynamics, including the observation of a low-frequency mutation that progressed to fixation within the infection chain. Time-resolved virus sequencing unveiled viral mutation dynamics within individuals with COVID-19, and epidemiologically validated infector-infectee pairs enabled us to determine an average transmission bottleneck size of 10[SUP]3[/SUP] SARS-CoV-2 particles. In conclusion, this study illustrates the power of combining epidemiological analysis with deep viral genome sequencing to unravel the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and to gain fundamental insights into mutational dynamics and transmission properties.
. 2020 Nov 23;eabe2555.
doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abe2555. Online ahead of print.
Genomic epidemiology of superspreading events in Austria reveals mutational dynamics and transmission properties of SARS-CoV-2
Alexandra Popa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jakob-Wendelin Genger[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael D Nicholson[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Thomas Penz[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daniela Schmid[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Stephan W Aberle[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Benedikt Agerer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alexander Lercher[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lukas Endler[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Henrique Cola?o[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mark Smyth[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael Schuster[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Miguel L Grau[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Francisco Mart?nez-Jim?nez[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Oriol Pich[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Wegene Borena[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Erich Pawelka[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Zsofia Keszei[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Martin Senekowitsch[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jan Laine[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Judith H Aberle[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Monika Redlberger-Fritz[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Mario Karolyi[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Alexander Zoufaly[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Sabine Maritschnik[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Martin Borkovec[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Peter Hufnagl[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Manfred Nairz[SUP] 9 [/SUP], G?nter Weiss[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Michael T Wolfinger[SUP] 10 11 [/SUP], Dorothee von Laer[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Giulio Superti-Furga[SUP] 1 12 [/SUP], Nuria Lopez-Bigas[SUP] 6 13 [/SUP], Elisabeth Puchhammer-St?ckl[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Franz Allerberger[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Franziska Michor[SUP] 2 14 [/SUP], Christoph Bock[SUP] 1 15 [/SUP], Andreas Bergthaler[SUP] 16 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33229462
- DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abe2555
Abstract
Superspreading events shaped the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and their rapid identification and containment are essential for disease control. Here we provide a national-scale analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) superspreading during the first wave of infections in Austria, a country that played a major role in initial virus transmissions in Europe. Capitalizing on Austria's well-developed epidemiological surveillance system, we identified major SARS-CoV-2 clusters during the first wave of infections and performed deep whole-genome sequencing of more than 500 virus samples. Phylogenetic-epidemiological analysis enabled the reconstruction of superspreading events and charts a map of tourism-related viral spread originating from Austria in spring 2020. Moreover, we exploited epidemiologically well-defined clusters to quantify SARS-CoV-2 mutational dynamics, including the observation of a low-frequency mutation that progressed to fixation within the infection chain. Time-resolved virus sequencing unveiled viral mutation dynamics within individuals with COVID-19, and epidemiologically validated infector-infectee pairs enabled us to determine an average transmission bottleneck size of 10[SUP]3[/SUP] SARS-CoV-2 particles. In conclusion, this study illustrates the power of combining epidemiological analysis with deep viral genome sequencing to unravel the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and to gain fundamental insights into mutational dynamics and transmission properties.