Mary Wilson
Well-known member
26 Jul 2022
DOI: 10.1126/science.abp833
JONATHAN E. PEKAR, ANDREW MAGEE, EDYTH PARKER, NIEMA MOSHIRI, KATHERINE IZHIKEVICH, JENNIFER L. HAVENS, KARTHIK GANGAVARAPU, ORENA MARIANA MALPICA SERRANO, ALEXANDER CRITS-CHRISTOPH[...]JOEL O. WERTHEIM +20 authors
Abstract
Understanding the circumstances that lead to pandemics is important for their prevention. Here, we analyze the genomic diversity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We show that SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity before February 2020 likely comprised only two distinct viral lineages, denoted A and B. Phylodynamic rooting methods, coupled with epidemic simulations, reveal that these lineages were the result of at least two separate cross-species transmission events into humans. The first zoonotic transmission likely involved lineage B viruses around 18 November 2019 (23 October–8 December), while the separate introduction of lineage A likely occurred within weeks of this event. These findings indicate that it is unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 circulated widely in humans prior to November 2019 and define the narrow window between when SARS-CoV-2 first jumped into humans and when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported. As with other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 emergence likely resulted from multiple zoonotic events.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337
DOI: 10.1126/science.abp833
JONATHAN E. PEKAR, ANDREW MAGEE, EDYTH PARKER, NIEMA MOSHIRI, KATHERINE IZHIKEVICH, JENNIFER L. HAVENS, KARTHIK GANGAVARAPU, ORENA MARIANA MALPICA SERRANO, ALEXANDER CRITS-CHRISTOPH[...]JOEL O. WERTHEIM +20 authors
Abstract
Understanding the circumstances that lead to pandemics is important for their prevention. Here, we analyze the genomic diversity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We show that SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity before February 2020 likely comprised only two distinct viral lineages, denoted A and B. Phylodynamic rooting methods, coupled with epidemic simulations, reveal that these lineages were the result of at least two separate cross-species transmission events into humans. The first zoonotic transmission likely involved lineage B viruses around 18 November 2019 (23 October–8 December), while the separate introduction of lineage A likely occurred within weeks of this event. These findings indicate that it is unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 circulated widely in humans prior to November 2019 and define the narrow window between when SARS-CoV-2 first jumped into humans and when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported. As with other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 emergence likely resulted from multiple zoonotic events.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337