Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 variants in South Korea between January 2020 and February 2023.
Il-Hwan Kim, Jin Sun No, Jeong-Ah Kim, Ae Kyung Park, HyeokJin Lee, Jeong-Min Kim, Nam-Joo Lee, Chi-Kyeong Kim, Chae Young Lee, SangHee Woo, Jaehee Lee, JeeEun Rhee, Eun-Jin Kim
Author Information
Il-Hwan Kim: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Jin Sun No: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Jeong-Ah Kim: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Ae Kyung Park: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
HyeokJin Lee: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Jeong-Min Kim: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Nam-Joo Lee: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Chi-Kyeong Kim: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Chae Young Lee: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
SangHee Woo: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Jaehee Lee: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
JeeEun Rhee: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea.
Eun-Jin Kim: Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea. Electronic address: ekim@korea.kr.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has been conducting national genomic surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2). To monitor and characterize circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants in South Korea, 102,873 oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal swab samples collected from patients with confirmed COVID-19 were sequenced, assigned lineages, and phylogenetically analyzed. Each wave followed a pattern of variants emerging first abroad and then spreading domestically. In 2020, B.41 lineage led the first wave, and B.1.497 dominated the second and third waves. In 2021, the fourth wave was driven by Delta (AY.69 and AY.122.5). In 2022, the fifth to seventh waves were dominated by Omicron sub-lineages BA.1/BA.1.1 and BA.2/BA.2.3, BA.5/BA.5.2, and BN.1, sequentially. The KDCA detected and monitored increasing variants in advance prior to large-scale epidemics, but the repeated emergence of new variants could threaten public health again. Therefore, it is important to continue to monitor and characterize emerging and circulating variants through national genomic surveillance.
