TY - JOUR AU - Swadi, Tara AU - Geoghegan, Jemma AU - Devine, Tom AU - McElnay, Caroline AU - Sherwood, Jillian AU - Shoemack, Phil AU - Ren, Xiaoyun AU - Storey, Matt AU - Jefferies, Sarah AU - Smit, Erasmus AU - Hadfield, James AU - Kenny, Aoife AU - Jelley, Lauren AU - Sporle, Andrew AU - McNeill, Andrea AU - Reynolds, G. Edwin AU - Mouldey, Kip AU - Lowe, Lindsay AU - Sonder, Gerard AU - Drummond, Alexei AU - Huang, Sue AU - Welch, David AU - Holmes, Edward AU - French, Nigel AU - Simpson, Colin AU - de Ligt, Joep T1 - Genomic Evidence of In-Flight Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Despite Predeparture Testing T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2021 VL - 27 IS - 3 SP - 687 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Since the first wave of coronavirus disease in March 2020, citizens and permanent residents returning to New Zealand have been required to undergo managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) for 14 days and mandatory testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of October 20, 2020, of 62,698 arrivals, testing of persons in MIQ had identified 215 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among 86 passengers on a flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that arrived in New Zealand on September 29, test results were positive for 7 persons in MIQ. These passengers originated from 5 different countries before a layover in Dubai; 5 had negative predeparture SARS-CoV-2 test results. To assess possible points of infection, we analyzed information about their journeys, disease progression, and virus genomic data. All 7 SARS-CoV-2 genomes were genetically identical, except for a single mutation in 1 sample. Despite predeparture testing, multiple instances of in-flight SARS-CoV-2 transmission are likely. KW - 2019 novel coronavirus disease KW - coronavirus disease KW - COVID-19 KW - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - viruses KW - respiratory infections KW - zoonoses KW - in-flight transmission KW - New Zealand DO - 10.3201/eid2703.204714 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/3/20-4714_article ER - End of Reference