Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020.

Alm, Erik; Broberg, Eeva K; Connor, Thomas; Hodcroft, Emma B; Komissarov, Andrey B; Maurer-Stroh, Sebastian; Melidou, Angeliki; Neher, Richard A; O'Toole, Áine; Pereyaslov, Dmitriy; +2 more... WHO European Region sequencing laboratories and GISAID EpiCoV gr; WHO European Region sequencing laboratories and GISAID EpiCoV gr; (2020) Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020. EUROSURVEILLANCE, 25 (32). pp. 7-14. ISSN 1025-496X DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.32.2001410

Abstract

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.