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Title: | 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 | Authors: | Cuypers, Lize Dellicour, Simon Hong, Samuel L. Potter, Barney, I Verhasselt, Bruno Vereecke, Nick Lambrechts, Laurens Durkin, Keith Bours, Vincent Klamer, Sofieke Bayon-Vicente, Guillaume Vael, Carl Arien, Kevin K. De Mendonca, Ricardo Soetens, Oriane Michel, Charlotte Bearzatto, Bertrand Naesens, Reinout Gras, Jeremie Vankeerberghen, Anne Matheeussen, Veerle Martens, Geert Obbels, Dagmar Lemmens, Ann Van den Poel, Bea Van Even, Ellen De Rauw, Klara WAUMANS, Luc Reynders , Marijke Degosserie, Jonathan Maes, Piet Andre, Emmanuel Baele, Guy |
Issue Date: | 2022 | Publisher: | MDPI | Source: | Viruses-Basel, 14 (10) (Art N° 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. | Notes: | Cuypers, L (corresponding author), Univ Hosp Leuven, Natl Reference Ctr Resp Pathogens, Dept Lab Med, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.; Baele, G (corresponding author), Katholieke Univ Leuven, Dept Microbiol Immunol & Transplantat, Rega Inst, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. lize.cuypers@uzleuven.be; guy.baele@kuleuven.be |
Keywords: | SARS-CoV-2;COVID-19;Belgium;genomic surveillance;next-generation sequencing;variants of concern | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/38930 | e-ISSN: | 1999-4915 | DOI: | 10.3390/v14102301 | ISI #: | 000873570200001 | Rights: | 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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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.pdf | Published version | 2.74 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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