Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 positive passengers on flights from China to Italy, December 2022

With numbers of COVID-19 cases having substantially increased at the end of 2022 in China, some countries have started or expanded testing and genomic surveillance of travellers. We report screening results in Italy in late December 2022 of 556 flight passengers in provenance from two Chinese provin...

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Published in:Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles 2023-01, Vol.28 (2), p.1
Main Authors: Novazzi, Federica, Giombini, Emanuela, Rueca, Martina, Baj, Andreina, Fabeni, Lavinia, Genoni, Angelo, Ferrante, Francesca Drago, Gramigna, Giulia, Gruber, Cesare Ernesto Maria, Boutahar, Sara, Minosse, Claudia, Butera, Ornella, Pasciuta, Renee, Focosi, Daniele, Colombo, Alberto, Antinori, Andrea, Girardi, Enrico, Vaia, Francesco, Maggi, Fabrizio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air travel
China - epidemiology
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 diagnostic tests
Genomics
Health surveillance
Humans
Italy - epidemiology
Passengers
SARS-CoV-2 - genetics
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
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Summary:With numbers of COVID-19 cases having substantially increased at the end of 2022 in China, some countries have started or expanded testing and genomic surveillance of travellers. We report screening results in Italy in late December 2022 of 556 flight passengers in provenance from two Chinese provinces. Among these passengers, 126 (22.7%) tested SARS-CoV-2 positive. Whole genome sequencing of 61 passengers' positive samples revealed Omicron variants, notably sub-lineages BA.5.2.48, BF.7.14 and BQ.1.1, in line with data released from China.
ISSN:1560-7917
1025-496X
1560-7917
DOI:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.2.2300008