SARS-CoV-2 Delta–Omicron Recombinant Viruses, United States
Kristine A. Lacek, Benjamin L. Rambo‐Martin, Dhwani Batra, Xiaoyu Zheng, Norman Hassell, Hitoshi Sakaguchi, Thomas P. Peacock, Natalie Groves, Matthew W. Keller, Malania M. Wilson, Mili Sheth, Morgan L. Davis, Mark Borroughs, Jonathan Gerhart, Samuel S. Shepard, Peter W. Cook, Justin Lee, David E. Wentworth, John Barnes, Rebecca Kondor, Clinton R. Paden
Abstract
E merging variants of SARS-CoV-2 are character- ized and monitored closely by national genomic surveillance. In addition to sequencing efforts from US public health, academic, and commercial laboratories, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects and sequences SARS-CoV-2 specimens from 64 partners across state, tribal, local, and territorial public health agencies through the National SARS-CoV-2 Strain Surveillance program (https:// www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/ cdc-role-surveillance.html) and funds SARS-CoV-2 sequencing through a nationwide network of commercial laboratory testing companies. To date, these efforts have contributed 1.8 million SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the United States to public repositories. The purpose of this genomic surveillance system is to detect and respond dynamically to new and changing SARS-CoV-2 variants (1).