"Nature": The spread of new coronavirus variants in Europe is related to travel

Chinanews.
com, Beijing, June 8 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The internationally renowned academic journal "Nature" recently published an epidemiological research paper saying that the recovery of European travel from June 2020 may contribute to the new coronavirus (SARS).
-A new variant of CoV-2) spreads rapidly in summer
.

The study pointed out that this new variant 20E (EU1) new coronavirus, which is believed to have appeared in Spain, has been introduced to European countries hundreds of times by summer travelers
.
Although the mutation did not show increased transmission, these findings indicate how travel can promote mutation frequency and emphasize the importance of genome monitoring and prevention and control strategies when resuming travel

At present, the new coronavirus is almost tracked in real time through viral genome sequencing, and this method can also detect the emergence of new mutations
.
The corresponding author of the paper, Emma Hodcroft (Emma Hodcroft) of the University of Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues reported that a new mutation was detected in Spain in the early summer of 2020, which later spread in Europe

In order to determine how this variant became the main source of the new crown epidemic in Europe in the fall of 2020, the author of the paper traced its evolutionary history (physical development)
.
Their analysis showed that 20E (EU1) was most popular in Spain between July and August, but by the end of August, this variant was found in many European countries, including Belgium, Switzerland, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Latvia, Sweden , Norway and Italy

The phylogenetic tree of the new coronavirus mutation 20E (EU1) shows that the mutation has been exported from Spain many times, and the pattern of entering other countries is consistent with the prediction of travel data
.
Many EU countries resumed travel in mid-June and reached a peak in July and August, which coincided with the peak of the 20E (EU1) epidemic in Spain

The author of the paper therefore proposed that the recurrence of cases in many European countries is partly due to insufficient international travel and quarantine
.
They concluded that as travel resumes, it is necessary to improve prevention and control strategies and reduce the risk of transmission of variant strains in order to help countries maintain a low level of new coronavirus transmission