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CDC, Concentric by Ginkgo and XpresCheck® Publish Results of CDC COVID-19 Air Travel Biosecurity Program at International Airports
The joint, voluntary COVID-19 testing program successfully identified Omicron sublineages BA.2 and BA.3 weeks before the next reported U.S. detections BOSTON,
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[{"type":"text","content":"The joint, voluntary COVID-19 testing program successfully identified Omicron sublineages BA.2 and BA.3 weeks before the next reported U.S. detections\nBOSTON, March 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Concentric by Ginkgo, the public health and biosecurity initiative of Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), today released new findings from its joint SARS-CoV-2 monitoring program with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and XpresCheck®, a subsidiary of XpresSpa Group, Inc (Nasdaq: XSPA). The findings, published in a preprint yesterday on medRxiv, outline how this voluntary Traveler-Based SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance program operates as an early warning system and closes a gap in national public health security. The program was the first in the nation to identify Omicron sublineages BA.2 and BA.3, weeks before they were reported elsewhere in the United States.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nIn partnership with CDC's Travelers' Health Branch and XpresCheck, Concentric enrolls international travelers arriving at select U.S. airports from multiple countries on a voluntary basis, and samples them using nasal swabs. Samples that test positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, undergo viral genomic sequencing to detect and monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants. The paper's authors conclude that the initial results of the program's operations demonstrate that the program is an effective model for a traveler-based pathogen genomic surveillance system. The authors suggest that expansion of the program can be used as an early warning system to detect new or emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and facilitate response to future travel-associated outbreaks and pandemics.\nDespite layered mitigation measures, international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic continues to facilitate global spread of SARS-CoV-2, including novel variants of concern (VOCs). Travelers represent a key population for monitoring new and emerging infectious diseases, due to their mobility, their potential for exposure to diseases during travel, and the possibility that they can spread diseases from one place to another in a short amount of time. Conducting traveler-based surveillance enabled this program to detect two Omicron sublineages, BA.2 and BA.3, seven and forty-three days, respectively, before they were reported elsewhere in the United States and North America.\n\"This...