Journal
VIRUSES-BASEL
Volume 14, Issue 10, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/v14102301
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Belgium; genomic surveillance; next-generation sequencing; variants of concern
Categories
Funding
- Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.FNRS, Belgium) [F.4515.22]
- European Union Horizon 2020 project MOOD [874850]
- Research Foundation-Flanders (Fonds voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen) [G098321N]
- Internal Funds KU Leuven [C14/18/094]
- Research Foundation-Flanders (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen) [G0G4220N]
- Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Baekeland Mandate) [HBC.2020.2889]
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek/Research Foundation Flanders [G0H4420N]
- Sciensano
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An adequate SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance strategy has been implemented in Belgium, transitioning from individual research laboratories to a nationwide consortium. This development has provided Belgium with increased genomic sequencing data and facilitated a range of scientific studies.
An adequate SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance strategy has proven to be essential for countries to obtain a thorough understanding of the variants and lineages being imported and successfully established within their borders. During 2020, genomic surveillance in Belgium was not structurally implemented but performed by individual research laboratories that had to acquire the necessary funds themselves to perform this important task. At the start of 2021, a nationwide genomic surveillance consortium was established in Belgium to markedly increase the country's genomic sequencing efforts (both in terms of intensity and representativeness), to perform quality control among participating laboratories, and to enable coordination and collaboration of research projects and publications. We here discuss the genomic surveillance efforts in Belgium before and after the establishment of its genomic sequencing consortium, provide an overview of the specifics of the consortium, and explore more details regarding the scientific studies that have been published as a result of the increased number of Belgian SARS-CoV-2 genomes that have become available.
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