Introductions and early spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the New York City area

Ana S. Gonzalez-Reiche, Matthew M. Hernandez, Mitchell J. Sullivan, Brianne Ciferri, Hala Alshammary, Ajay Obla, Shelcie Fabre, Giulio Kleiner, Jose Polanco, Zenab Khan, Bremy Alburquerque, Adriana van de Guchte, Jayeeta Dutta, Nancy Francoeur, Betsaida Salom Melo, Irina Oussenko, Gintaras Deikus, Juan Soto, Shwetha Hara Sridhar, Ying Chih WangKathryn Twyman, Andrew Kasarskis, Deena R. Altman, Melissa Smith, Robert Sebra, Judith Aberg, Florian Krammer, Adolfo García-Sastre, Marta Luksza, Gopi Patel, Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, Melissa Gitman, Emilia Mia Sordillo, Viviana Simon, Harm van Bakel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

207 Scopus citations

Abstract

New York City (NYC) has emerged as one of the epicenters of the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. To identify the early transmission events underlying the rapid spread of the virus in the NYC metropolitan area, we sequenced the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients seeking care at the Mount Sinai Health System. Phylogenetic analysis of 84 distinct SARS-CoV-2 genomes indicates multiple, independent, but isolated introductions mainly from Europe and other parts of the United States. Moreover, we found evidence for community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as suggested by clusters of related viruses found in patients living in different neighborhoods of the city.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)297-301
Number of pages5
JournalScience
Volume369
Issue number6501
DOIs
StatePublished - 17 Jul 2020

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