Cryptic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Washington state.
Trevor Felix BedfordAlexander L GreningerPavitra RoychoudhuryJoshua T SchifferMichael FamulareMeei-Li W HuangArun NallaGregory PepperAdam ReinhardtHong XieLasata ShresthaTruong N NguyenAmanda AdlerElisabeth BrandstetterShari ChoDanielle GirouxPeter D HanKairsten FayChris D FrazarMisja IlcisinKirsten LacombeJover LeeAnahita KiavandMatthew RichardsonThomas R SibleyMelissa TruongCaitlin R WolfDeborah A NickersonMark J RiederJanet A Englundnull nullJames HadfieldEmma B HodcroftJohn HuddlestonLouise H MonclaNicola Felix MüllerRichard A NeherXianding DengWei GuScot FedermanCharles Y ChiuJeffrey S DuchinRomesh GautomGeoff C MellyBrian HiattPhilip DykemaScott LindquistKrista QueenYing TaoAnna UeharaSuxiang TongDuncan R MacCannellGregory L ArmstrongGeoffrey Stuart BairdHelen Y ChuJay ShendureKeith R JeromePublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2020)
After its emergence in Wuhan, China, in late November or early December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus rapidly spread globally. Genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 allows the reconstruction of its transmission history, although this is contingent on sampling. We analyzed 453 SARS-CoV-2 genomes collected between 20 February and 15 March 2020 from infected patients in Washington state in the United States. We find that most SARS-CoV-2 infections sampled during this time derive from a single introduction in late January or early February 2020, which subsequently spread locally before active community surveillance was implemented.