1. Epidemiological and genomic findings of the first documented Italian outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant of concern
- Author
-
Laura Amato, Luca Candeloro, Arturo Di Girolamo, Lara Savini, Ilaria Puglia, Maurilia Marcacci, Marialuigia Caporale, Iolanda Mangone, Cesare Cammà, Annamaria Conte, Giuseppe Torzi, Adamo Mancinelli, Francesca Di Giallonardo, Alessio Lorusso, Giacomo Migliorati, Thomas Schael, Nicola D’Alterio, and Paolo Calistri
- Subjects
Abruzzo ,SARS-CoV-2, Alpha variant ,Epidemiology ,Genomic surveillance ,Reproduction number ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
From 24 December 2020 to 8 February 2021, 163 cases of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant of concern (VOC) were identified in Chieti province, Abruzzo region. Epidemiological data allowed the identification of 14 epi-clusters. With one exception, all the epi-clusters were linked to the town of Guardiagrele: 149 contacts formed the network, two-thirds of which were referred to the family/friends context. Real data were then used to estimate transmission parameters. According to our method, the calculated Re(t) was higher than 2 before the 12 December 2020. Similar values were obtained from other studies considering Alpha VOC. Italian sequence data were combined with a random subset of sequences obtained from the GISAID database. Genomic analysis showed close identity between the sequences from Guardiagrele, forming one distinct clade. This would suggest one or limited unspecified viral introductions from outside to Abruzzo region in early December 2020, which led to the diffusion of Alpha VOC in Guardiagrele and in neighbouring municipalities, with very limited inter-regional mixing.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF