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. 2020 Feb;11(1):3-7.
doi: 10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.1.02.

Identification of Coronavirus Isolated from a Patient in Korea with COVID-19

Jeong-Min Kim  1 , Yoon-Seok Chung  1 , Hye Jun Jo  1 , Nam-Joo Lee  1 , Mi Seon Kim  1 , Sang Hee Woo  1 , Sehee Park  1 , Jee Woong Kim  2 , Heui Man Kim  1 , Myung-Guk Han  1
Affiliations

Identification of Coronavirus Isolated from a Patient in Korea with COVID-19

Jeong-Min Kim et al. Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: Following reports of patients with unexplained pneumonia at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the causative agent was identified as coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), and the 2019 novel coronavirus disease was named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. Putative patients with COVID-19 have been identified in South Korea, and attempts have been made to isolate the pathogen from these patients.

Methods: Upper and lower respiratory tract secretion samples from putative patients with COVID-19 were inoculated onto cells to isolate the virus. Full genome sequencing and electron microscopy were used to identify the virus.

Results: The virus replicated in Vero cells and cytopathic effects were observed. Full genome sequencing showed that the virus genome exhibited sequence homology of more than 99.9% with SARS-CoV-2 which was isolated from patients from other countries, for instance China. Sequence homology of SARS-CoV-2 with SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV was 77.5% and 50%, respectively. Coronavirus-specific morphology was observed by electron microscopy in virus-infected Vero cells.

Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 was isolated from putative patients with unexplained pneumonia and intermittent coughing and fever. The isolated virus was named BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; isolation; pneumonia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cytopathic effect of SARS-CoV-2 on Vero cells. (A) Mock inoculated cells (B) SARS-CoV-2 inoculated cells.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Thin section electron micrographs of Vero cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. Electron micrographs show representative thin sections of Vero cells infected with SARS-CoV-2; cells were collected at 48 hours after infection for examination by electron microscopy. White arrows point to aggregates of assembled intracellular virions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree analysis of SARS-CoV-2 based on full genome nucleotide sequences using the neighbor-joining tree. Values on branches are shown as percentages based on 1,000 bootstrap replicates. (A) Gene analysis of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, (B) gene analysis of SARS-CoV-2 and BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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