Authors: Alm E, Broberg EK, Connor T, Hodcroft EB, Komissarov AB, Maurer-Stroh S, Melidou A, Neher RA, O’Toole A, Pereyaslov D, WHO European Region sequencing laboratories and GISAID EpiCoV group

During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been used extensively by laboratories all over the world to characterise the virus. To be able to implement continuous monitoring of genetic changes through WGS as part of surveillance at the European level, surveillance objectives and virus nomenclatures need to be defined. In this report, we applied the available nomenclatures to the European subset of the GISAID dataset to describe broad geographical and temporal trends in the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades during the first half of 2020 and we discuss potential genomic surveillance objectives at the European level.

Bulletin Europeen Sur Les Maladies Transmissibles = European Communicable Disease Bulletin