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Genome sequencing reveals existence of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 variant in Egypt
Ghada Ismail1,2, Hossam Abdelghaffar3,4, Mohamed G Seadawy5
1Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Al-Abbasia PO11588, Cairo, Egypt.
Background:
Several SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased transmissibility and/or potential immune escape have emerged and rapidly spread worldwide. Ongoing surveillance analyses are performed worldwide to designate new variants of concern (VOC) of coronavirus.
Main Text:
This report identifies the first Egyptian patient with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant. The patient showed positivity on reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and full genome sequencing was performed to confirm the variant. The mutations found in the variant were compared with the GISAID reference strain hCoV-19/Wuhan/WIV04/2019. Genome BLAST showed the highest similarity to omicron variants isolated in South Africa. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the variant belongs to the 21K clade.
Conclusions:
The study indicates the importance of information-sharing among global public health partners. Moreover the importance of implementation of full genome sequencing to rapidly identify and track the new SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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