Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 May;27(5):1317-1322. doi: 10.3201/eid2705.204579.
Real-time genomic sequencing has played a major role in tracking the global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), contributing greatly to disease mitigation strategies. In August 2020, after having eliminated the virus, New Zealand experienced a second outbreak. During that outbreak, New Zealand used genomic sequencing in a primary role, leading to a second elimination of the virus. We generated genomes from 78% of the laboratory-confirmed samples of SARS-CoV-2 from the second outbreak and compared them with the available global genomic data. Genomic sequencing rapidly identified that virus causing the second outbreak in New Zealand belonged to a single cluster, thus resulting from a single introduction. However, successful identification of the origin of this outbreak was impeded by substantial biases and gaps in global sequencing data. Access to a broader and more heterogenous sample of global genomic data would strengthen efforts to locate the source of any new outbreaks.
实时基因组测序在追踪严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）的全球传播方面发挥了重要作用，极大地促进了疾病缓解策略的制定。2020 年 8 月，新西兰消灭病毒后，又经历了第二次疫情爆发。在那次疫情中，新西兰主要利用基因组测序，从而再次消灭了病毒。我们从第二次疫情中实验室确诊的 SARS-CoV-2 样本中提取了 78%的基因组，并与现有的全球基因组数据进行了比较。基因组测序迅速确定，导致新西兰第二次疫情爆发的病毒属于单一集群，因此是由单一输入引起的。然而，由于全球测序数据中存在大量的偏差和空白，成功确定此次疫情的起源受到了阻碍。获取更广泛和更多样化的全球基因组数据样本，将有助于努力确定任何新疫情的源头。
