https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread"> @McGillGenome @INSPQ have thus far sequenced genomes of 734 Québec residents infected w/ #COVID19 to unravel the genomic epidemiology of the infection (sources of introduction) in Québec

Video of automated sequencing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Fl8AJSasU

Below">https://www.youtube.com/watch... is summary of findingshttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">
1/5

Samples were collected between mid-Feb to April 1, 2020
Sequence analysis + travel history showed:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="*⃣" title="Tastenkappe Sternchen" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Sternchen"> 32.7% of infections came from Europe, with France contributing 12.1% of infections
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="*⃣" title="Tastenkappe Sternchen" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Sternchen"> 31% from Caribbean/Latin America
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="*⃣" title="Tastenkappe Sternchen" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Sternchen"> 23.9% from U.S.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="*⃣" title="Tastenkappe Sternchen" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Sternchen"> 1.2% from Asian, none from China
2/5

Based on the phylogeny of the earliest reported cases, it is possible the first case reached Québec City from the United Kingdom as early as end of January!
This confirms that #COVID19 had spread outside China a lot earlier than originally announced.
3/5

According to the results, the virus entered Québec during the spring break & could have been carried into the province by as few as 247 people.
You can view the pre-print here: https://virological.org/t/genomic-epidemiology-of-early-introductions-of-sars-cov-2-into-the-canadian-province-of-quebec/553
4/5">https://virological.org/t/genomic...

Lastly, this great work is possible through support from @GenomeCanada& #39;s CanCOGEn project, @InnovationCA,
@CalculQ, @ComputeCanada
This work and analysis is ongoing.

End of thread.