Frontiers in Microbiology (Jun 2020)

SARS-CoV-2 Genome Analysis of Japanese Travelers in Nile River Cruise

  • Tsuyoshi Sekizuka,
  • Sanae Kuramoto,
  • Eri Nariai,
  • Masakatsu Taira,
  • Yushi Hachisu,
  • Akihiko Tokaji,
  • Michiyo Shinohara,
  • Tsuyoshi Kishimoto,
  • Kentaro Itokawa,
  • Yusuke Kobayashi,
  • Keisuke Kadokura,
  • Hajime Kamiya,
  • Tamano Matsui,
  • Motoi Suzuki,
  • Makoto Kuroda

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01316
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Japan has reported 26 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) linked to cruise tours on the River Nile in Egypt between March 5 and 15, 2020. Here, we characterized the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome of isolates from 10 travelers who returned from Egypt and from patients possibly associated with these travelers. We performed haplotype network analysis of SARS-CoV-2 isolates using genome-wide single-nucleotide variations. Our analysis identified two potential Egypt-related clusters from these imported cases, and these clusters were related to globally detected viruses in different countries.

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