SARS-CoV-2 introductions to the island of Ireland: a phylogenetic and geospatiotemporal study of infection dynamics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ireland's COVID-19 response combined extensive SARS-CoV-2 testing to estimate incidence, with whole genome sequencing (WGS) for genome surveillance. As an island with two political jurisdictions-Northern Ireland (NI) and Republic of Ireland (RoI)-and access to detailed passenger travel data, Ireland provides a unique setting to study virus introductions and evaluate public health measures. Using a substantial Irish genomic dataset alongside global data from GISAID, this study aimed to trace the introduction and spread of SARS-CoV-2 across the island.

Methods

We recursively searched for 29,518 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences collected in Ireland from March 2020 to June 2022 within the global SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree and identified clusters based on shared last comm

SUBMITTER: Rice AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11658175 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature