Expansion of a SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant with an 872 nt deletion encompassing ORF7a, ORF7b and ORF8, Poland, July to August 2021
Natalia Mazur-Panasiuk, Łukasz Rąbalski, Tomasz Gromowski, Grzegorz Nowicki, Michał Kowalski, Witold Wydmański, Piotr Szulc, Maciej Kosiński, Karolina Gackowska, Natalia Drweska-Matelska, Jakub Grabowski, Anna Piotrowska-Mietelska, Bogusław Szewczyk, Krystyna Bieńkowska-Szewczyk, Jakub Swadźba, Paweł P. Łabaj, Maciej Grzybek, Krzysztof Pyrć
Abstract
Routine genomic surveillance on samples from COVID-19 patients collected in Poland during summer 2021 revealed the emergence of a SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant with a large 872 nt deletion. This change, confirmed by Sanger and deep sequencing, causes complete loss of ORF7a , ORF7b , and ORF8 genes. The index case carrying the deletion is unknown. The standard pipeline for sequencing may mask this deletion with a long stretch of N’s. Effects of this deletion on phenotype or immune evasion needs further study.