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. 2023 Jan;28(2):2300008.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.2.2300008.

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 positive passengers on flights from China to Italy, December 2022

Federica Novazzi  1   2 , Emanuela Giombini  3 , Martina Rueca  3 , Andreina Baj  1   2 , Lavinia Fabeni  3 , Angelo Genoni  1   2 , Francesca Drago Ferrante  1 , Giulia Gramigna  3 , Cesare Ernesto Maria Gruber  3 , Sara Boutahar  1 , Claudia Minosse  3 , Ornella Butera  3 , Renee Pasciuta  2 , Daniele Focosi  4 , Alberto Colombo  2 , Andrea Antinori  3 , Enrico Girardi  3 , Francesco Vaia  3 , Fabrizio Maggi  3
Affiliations

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 positive passengers on flights from China to Italy, December 2022

Federica Novazzi et al. Euro Surveill. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

With numbers of COVID-19 cases having substantially increased at the end of 2022 in China, some countries have started or expanded testing and genomic surveillance of travellers. We report screening results in Italy in late December 2022 of 556 flight passengers in provenance from two Chinese provinces. Among these passengers, 126 (22.7%) tested SARS-CoV-2 positive. Whole genome sequencing of 61 passengers' positive samples revealed Omicron variants, notably sub-lineages BA.5.2.48, BF.7.14 and BQ.1.1, in line with data released from China.

Keywords: BA.5.2.48; BA.5.2.49; BF.7.14; BQ.1.1; COVID-19; China; SARS-CoV-2; immune escape.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Geographic distribution of Omicrona sub-lineages among passengers testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, according to the Chinese town of provenance of their flights to Italy, 26–29 December 2022 (n = 55 sequences)a
Figure 2
Figure 2
Geographic distribution by province of Omicrona sub-lineages among sequencesb with case date after 1 September 2022 deposited from China in GISAID as of 11 January 2023 (n = 627 sequences)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts