Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern, Including B.1.1.28/P.1, British Columbia, Canada
Nancy Matic, Christopher F. Lowe, Gordon Ritchie, Aleksandra Stefanovic, Tanya Lawson, Willson Jang, Matthew Young, Winnie Dong, Zabrina L. Brumme, Chanson J. Brumme, Victor C. M. Leung, Marc G. Romney
Abstract
To screen all severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-positive samples in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and determine whether they represented variants of concern, we implemented a real-time reverse transcription PCR-based algorithm. We rapidly identified 77 samples with variants: 57 with B.1.1.7, 7 with B.1.351, and an epidemiologic cluster of 13 with B.1.1.28/P.1.
Topics & Concepts
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Virology2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSars virusCoronavirusCluster (spacecraft)BetacoronavirusBiologyMedicineOutbreakInternal medicineInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseaseProgramming languageComputer scienceSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchSARS-CoV-2 detection and testingRespiratory viral infections research