Importation and early local transmission of COVID-19 in Brazil, 2020
Jaqueline Góes de Jesus, Cláudio Tavares Sacchi, Darlan da Silva Cândido, Ingra Morales Claro, Flavia Cristina da Silva Sales, Erika R. Manuli, Daniela Bernardes Borges da Silva, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, Margarete Aparecida Benega Pinho, Katia Corrêa de Oliveira Santos, Sarah C. Hill, Renato Santana Aguiar, Filipe Romero, Fabiana Cristina Pereira dos Santos, Cláudia Regina Gonçalves, María do Carmo Sampaio Tavares Timenetsky, Joshua Quick, Júlio Croda, Wanderson de Oliveira, Andrew Rambaut, Oliver G. Pybus, Nicholas J. Loman, Éster Cerdeira Sabino, Nuno Rodrigues Faria
Abstract
We conducted the genome sequencing and analysis of the first confirmed COVID-19 infections in Brazil. Rapid sequencing coupled with phylogenetic analyses in the context of travel history corroborate multiple independent importations from Italy and local spread during the initial stage of COVID-19 transmission in Brazil.