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. 2023 Sep;28(36):2300460.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.36.2300460.

First cases of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 in Denmark, 2023

Morten Rasmussen  1   2 , Frederik Trier Møller  2   3 , Vithiagaran Gunalan  1 , Sharmin Baig  4 , Marc Bennedbæk  1 , Lasse Engbo Christiansen  5 , Arieh Sierra Cohen  6 , Kirsten Ellegaard  4 , Anders Fomsgaard  1 , Kristina Træholt Franck  7 , Nicolai Balle Larsen  6 , Tine Graakjær Larsen  3 , Ria Lassaunière  1 , Charlotta Polacek  1 , Amanda Gammelby Qvesel  7 , Raphael Niklaus Sieber  4 , Lasse Dam Rasmussen  7 , Marc Stegger  4   8 , Katja Spiess  1 , Man-Hung Eric Tang  4 , Lasse Skafte Vestergaard  3 , Thomas Emil Andersen  9   10 , Silje Vermedal Hoegh  9 , Rune Micha Pedersen  9   10 , Marianne Nielsine Skov  9   10 , Kat Steinke  9 , Thomas Vognbjerg Sydenham  9   10 , Morten Hoppe  11 , Lene Nielsen  11 , Tyra Grove Krause  12 , Henrik Ullum  13 , Pikka Jokelainen  14
Affiliations

First cases of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 in Denmark, 2023

Morten Rasmussen et al. Euro Surveill. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

We describe 10 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant BA.2.86 detected in Denmark, including molecular characteristics and results from wastewater surveillance that indicate that the variant is circulating in the country at a low level. This new variant with many spike gene mutations was classified as a variant under monitoring by the World Health Organization on 17 August 2023. Further global monitoring of COVID-19, BA.2.86 and other SARS-CoV-2 variants is highly warranted.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; WGS; diagnostic preparedness; emerging variant; epidemiological preparedness; sequencing; virus; wastewater surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
snipit plot showing nucleotide substitutions, insertions and deletions in SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 spike genes, Denmark until 28 August 2023 (n = 10) compared with sequences from global surveillance in the same period
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maximum-likelihood phylogeny showing BA.2.86 genomes from Denmark (n = 10) and global GISAID submissions until 28 August 2023 as well as representative genomes from other SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Denmark
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Supplementary concepts