International risk of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant importations originating in South Africa

Yuan Bai; Zhanwei Du; Mingda Xu; Lin Wang; Peng Wu; Eric H Y Lau; Benjamin J Cowling; Lauren Ancel Meyers

doi:10.1093/jtm/taac073

International risk of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant importations originating in South Africa

J Travel Med. 2022 Sep 17;29(6):taac073. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taac073.

Authors

Yuan Bai^{1

2}, Zhanwei Du^{1

2}, Mingda Xu¹, Lin Wang³, Peng Wu^{1

2}, Eric H Y Lau^{1

2}, Benjamin J Cowling^{1

2}, Lauren Ancel Meyers^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ WHO Collaborating Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China.
² Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health Limited, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China.
³ Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EH, UK.
⁴ Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
⁵ Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87507, USA.

Abstract

Omicron, a fast-spreading SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern reported to the World Health Organization on 24 November 2021, has raised international alarm. We estimated there is at least 50% chance that Omicron had been introduced by travellers from South Africa into 11 of the 14 countries studied by 28 November 2021.

Keywords: Omicron; SARS-CoV-2 variant; importations; spreading.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Humans
SARS-CoV-2*
South Africa / epidemiology

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Supplementary concepts

Grants and funding