Viruses (Oct 2022)
Two Years of Genomic Surveillance in Belgium during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic to Attain Country-Wide Coverage and Monitor the Introduction and Spread of Emerging Variants
- Lize Cuypers,
- Simon Dellicour,
- Samuel L. Hong,
- Barney I. Potter,
- Bruno Verhasselt,
- Nick Vereecke,
- Laurens Lambrechts,
- Keith Durkin,
- Vincent Bours,
- Sofieke Klamer,
- Guillaume Bayon-Vicente,
- Carl Vael,
- Kevin K. Ariën,
- Ricardo De Mendonca,
- Oriane Soetens,
- Charlotte Michel,
- Bertrand Bearzatto,
- Reinout Naesens,
- Jeremie Gras,
- Anne Vankeerberghen,
- Veerle Matheeussen,
- Geert Martens,
- Dagmar Obbels,
- Ann Lemmens,
- Bea Van den Poel,
- Ellen Van Even,
- Klara De Rauw,
- Luc Waumans,
- Marijke Reynders,
- Jonathan Degosserie,
- Piet Maes,
- Emmanuel André,
- Guy Baele
Affiliations
- Lize Cuypers
- National Reference Centre for Respiratory Pathogens, Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Simon Dellicour
- Spatial Epidemiology Lab (SpELL), Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
- Samuel L. Hong
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Barney I. Potter
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Bruno Verhasselt
- Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Nick Vereecke
- PathoSense BV, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
- Laurens Lambrechts
- HIV Cure Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Keith Durkin
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA Research Institute, 4000 Liège, Belgium
- Vincent Bours
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA Research Institute, 4000 Liège, Belgium
- Sofieke Klamer
- Scientific Directorate of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Guillaume Bayon-Vicente
- Department of Proteomic and Microbiology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgium
- Carl Vael
- Clinical Laboratory, AZ Klina, 2930 Brasschaat, Belgium
- Kevin K. Ariën
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
- Ricardo De Mendonca
- Department of Microbiology, CUB-Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
- Oriane Soetens
- Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1090 Brussels, Belgium
- Charlotte Michel
- Department of Microbiology, Laboratoire Hospitalier Universitaire de Bruxelles (LHUB-ULB), 1000 Brussels, Belgium
- Bertrand Bearzatto
- Center for Applied Molecular Technologies (CTMA), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), 1000 Brussels, Belgium
- Reinout Naesens
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
- Jeremie Gras
- Institute of Pathology and Genetics (IPG), 6041 Gosselies, Belgium
- Anne Vankeerberghen
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Campus Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis, 9300 Aalst, Belgium
- Veerle Matheeussen
- Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, Department of Microbiology, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO), University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
- Geert Martens
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, AZ Delta General Hospital, 8800 Roeselare, Belgium
- Dagmar Obbels
- Clinical Laboratory, Imelda Hospital, 2820 Bonheiden, Belgium
- Ann Lemmens
- Laboratory of Clinical Biology, AZ Sint-Maarten Hospital, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium
- Bea Van den Poel
- Clinical Laboratory, General Hospital Jan Portaels, 1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium
- Ellen Van Even
- Clinical Laboratory of Microbiology, HH Hospital Lier, 2500 Lier, Belgium
- Klara De Rauw
- Laboratory of Clinical Biology, AZ Sint Lucas Hospital, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Luc Waumans
- Clinical Laboratory, Jessa Hospital, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium
- Marijke Reynders
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical Microbiology, AZ Sint-Jan Bruges-Ostend AV, 8000 Bruges, Belgium
- Jonathan Degosserie
- Federal Testing Platform COVID-19, Department of Laboratory Medicine, CHU UCL Namur, 5530 Yvoir, Belgium
- Piet Maes
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Emmanuel André
- National Reference Centre for Respiratory Pathogens, Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Guy Baele
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/v14102301
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 10
p. 2301
Abstract
An adequate SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance strategy has proven to be essential for countries to obtain a thorough understanding of the variants and lineages being imported and successfully established within their borders. During 2020, genomic surveillance in Belgium was not structurally implemented but performed by individual research laboratories that had to acquire the necessary funds themselves to perform this important task. At the start of 2021, a nationwide genomic surveillance consortium was established in Belgium to markedly increase the country’s genomic sequencing efforts (both in terms of intensity and representativeness), to perform quality control among participating laboratories, and to enable coordination and collaboration of research projects and publications. We here discuss the genomic surveillance efforts in Belgium before and after the establishment of its genomic sequencing consortium, provide an overview of the specifics of the consortium, and explore more details regarding the scientific studies that have been published as a result of the increased number of Belgian SARS-CoV-2 genomes that have become available.
Keywords
