Genomic Evidence of In-Flight Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Despite Predeparture Testing
Tara Swadi
1, Jemma L. Geoghegan
1 , Tom Devine, Caroline McElnay, Jillian Sherwood, Phil Shoemack, Xiaoyun Ren, Matt Storey, Sarah Jefferies, Erasmus Smit, James Hadfield, Aoife Kenny, Lauren Jelley, Andrew Sporle, Andrea McNeill, G. Edwin Reynolds, Kip Mouldey, Lindsay Lowe, Gerard Sonder, Alexei J. Drummond, Sue Huang, David Welch, Edward C. Holmes, Nigel French, Colin R. Simpson, and Joep de Ligt
Author affiliations: New Zealand Ministry of Health, Wellington, New Zealand (T. Swadi, T. Devine, A. Kenny); University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (J.L. Geoghegan); Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Porirua, New Zealand (J.L. Geoghegan, J. Sherwood, X. Ren, M. Storey, S. Jefferies, E. Smit, L. Jelley, A. McNeill, G. Sonder, S. Huang, J. de Ligt); New Zealand Ministry of Health, Wellington (C. McElnay); Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Tauranga, New Zealand (P. Shoemack, K. Mouldey, L. Lowe); Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle, Washington, USA (J. Hadfield); University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (A. Sporle, A.J. Drummond, D. Welch); iNZight Analytics Ltd., Auckland (A. Sporle); Auckland District Health Board, Auckland (G.E. Reynolds); The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (E.C. Holmes); Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand (N. French); Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington (C.R. Simpson); University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK (C.R. Simpson)
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Figure 5
Figure 5. Network of likely severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission among 7 passengers who traveled on flight EK448 (Boeing 777–300ER) from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Auckland, New Zealand, with a refueling stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on September 29, 2020. The gray shaded area illustrates likely in-flight virus transmission. Dashed circles represent likely virus transmission between travel companions.
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