Volume 29, Number 12—December 2023
Research Letter
SARS-CoV-2 Variants BQ.1 and XBB.1.5 in Wastewater of Aircraft Flying from China to Denmark, 2023
, Marc Bennedbæk1, Nicolai Balle Larsen, Vithiagaran Gunalan, Lene Wulff Krogsgaard, Morten Rasmussen2, and Lasse Dam Rasmussen2
Table
Sequencing results for SARS-CoV-2–positive wastewater samples in study of SARS-CoV-2 variants BQ.1 and XBB.1.5 in wastewater of aircraft flying from China to Denmark, 2023*
| Aircraft ID | Arrival week | Raw sequence reads | Mapped sequence reads | Genome (spike) coverage,† % | Pangolin lineage‡ (% abundance) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC1 | 2 | 16,699,590 | 948,407 | 85.5 (49.5) | XBB.1.1 (21), BA.5 (9), XBB.2 (7), XBB.1 (7) |
| AC2 | 2 | 15,892,650 | 122,882 | 48.5 (17.6) | NA |
| AC3 | 3 | 14,467,192 | 725,320 | 93.1 (90.7) | BQ.1 (60) |
| AC4 | 4 | 13,463,062 | 5,584 | 10.3 (8.1) | NA |
| AC5 | 4 | 25,193,066 | 607,011 | 83.9 (88.7) | XBB.1.5 (96) |
| AC6 | 4 | 5,215,440 | 135 | 16.7 (0.0) | NA |
| AC7 | 5 | 15,691,594 | 960,609 | 82.9 (91.4) | XBB.1.5 (99) |
| AC8 | 5 | 2,749,174 | 102 | 0.0 (0.0) | NA |
| AC9 | 6 | 5,880,410 | 14,457 | 14.0 (9.1) | NA |
| AC10 | 6 | 13,244,030 | 1,306,993 | 98.1 (95.2) | XBB.1.5 (59), XBB.2 (18), XBB.1 (18) |
| AC11 |
6 |
1,132,399 |
1,127,995 |
98.1 (95.2) |
XBB.1.5 (97) |
| EC§ | NA | 4,050,388 | 370 | 0.5 (0.0) | NA |
*Wastewater was collected from aircraft during January 9 (week 2)–February 12 (week 6), 2023. Samples from each aircraft were combined and reverse transcription quantitative PCR and sequencing were performed; only 1 sample each was collected from AC6, AC8, and AC9. Full table of results for each aliquot is available in the Appendix). EC, extraction control; ID, identification; NA, not applicable. †Coverage percentages are provided for the full genome sequence and for the spike protein gene. ‡Lineages according to Pangolin software (https://cov-lineages.org). §Water sample was extracted and sequenced as a control.
1These first authors contributed equally to this article.
2These senior authors contributed equally to this article.