Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 during the first year of the pandemic in the Bronx enabled clinical and epidemiological inference

Fels JM, Khan S, Forster R, Skalina KA, Sirichand S, Fox AS, Bergman A, Mitchell WB, Wolgast LR, Szymczak WA, Bortz RH 3rd, Dieterle ME, Florez C, Haslwanter D, Jangra RK, Laudermilch E, Wirchnianski AS, Barnhill J, Goldman DL, Khine H, Goldstein DY, Daily JP, Chandran K, Kelly L. Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 during the first year of the pandemic in the Bronx enabled clinical and epidemiological inference. Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud. 2022 8:a006211. doi: 10.1101/mcs.a006211.

 

ABSTRACT

The Bronx was an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA. We conducted temporal genomic surveillance of 104 SARS-CoV-2 genomes across the Bronx from March October 2020. Although the local structure of SARS-CoV-2 lineages mirrored those of New York City and New York State, temporal sampling revealed a dynamic and changing landscape of SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity. Mapping the trajectories of mutations, we found that while some became 'endemic' to the Bronx, other, novel mutations rose in prevalence in the late summer/early fall. Geographically resolved genomes enabled us to distinguish between cases of reinfection and persistent infection in two pediatric patients. We propose that limited, targeted, temporal genomic surveillance has clinical and epidemiological utility in managing the ongoing COVID pandemic.