The genome surveillance consortium, INSACOG, was formed under the leadership of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi. In addition, more than 50 samples from UK returnees are currently being sequenced in designated laboratories.
Five percent of positive cases of Covid-19 from all states and UTs will be tested for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) as part of the strategy put in place to detect and control the mutant variant, the Department of Health said. Union after a meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on Covid-19 on this issue.
“It is proposed to continue with improved genomic surveillance for early detection and control of the British variant SARS-CoV-2 strains. However, it is important to understand that, like all other RNA viruses, SARS-CoV- 2 will continue to mutate, ”the ministry said.
The mutated virus can also be contained through measures such as social distance, hand hygiene, wearing masks, and also by an effective vaccine, if and when available, the ministry said.
The NTF meeting was convened on Saturday by ICMR under co-chair of Dr. Vinod Paul, NITI Aayog member and Dr. Balram Bhargava, Secretary, Director General ICMR.
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss evidence-based changes to testing, treatment and surveillance strategies for SARS-CoV-2 in view of the recent reports of the emergence of a new variant of the virus from the UK.
It was emphasized that since the UK variant of the strain causes increased transmissibility of the virus, it is critical to identify and adequately control individuals infected with this strain to prevent its transmission in India, the report said. statement.
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The NTF concluded that it is not necessary to change the existing treatment protocol due to the development of mutations in the strain.
Since ICMR has always advocated the use of two or more gene assays for testing SARS-CoV-2, infected cases are unlikely to be missed with the current testing strategy, the ministry said.
The NTF advised that, in addition to existing surveillance strategies, it is critical to conduct enhanced genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2, especially on incoming UK passengers.
The meeting was also attended by Professor Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS; Director General of Healthcare (DGHS); Drug Controller General of India (DCGI); Director, National Center for Disease Control (NCDC); other representatives from the Ministry of Health and ICMR, as well as independent subject matter experts.
The variant strain has 14 non-synonymous (amino acid-changing) mutations, 6 synonymous (non-amino acid-changing) and 3 deletions.
“There are eight mutations in the Spike (S) gene that carries the receptor binding domain (receptor binding domain) of the ACE2 receptors, which are the point where the virus enters human respiratory cells,” the ministry said in its statement.
The NTF deliberated in detail on aspects related to the current National Treatment Protocol, testing strategy and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 versus the UK variant.
The NTF considered that it will also be critical to perform genome sequencing in samples where the S gene is lost on laboratory diagnosis, proven cases of re-infections, etc. Routine genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by a representative sample in all samples must be a continuous and well-planned activity according to the statement.
The designated laboratories where samples from UK returnees are currently being sequenced include -NCDC, Delhi; CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi; CSIR – Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and DBT – Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneshwar.
It is also done at DBT-National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani; DBT-InStem-National Center for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru; National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru and National Institute of Virology, Pune.
The NCDC has announced that the Center has taken note of the reports of mutant variants and the response of other countries to these reports.
The situation is being monitored proactively.
A strategy has been established whereby all passengers arriving from the UK between 21 and 23 December are tested at the airports and only after the PCR test result is available are the negative passengers allowed to leave the airports
All positive tested passengers are placed in institutional isolation and their samples sent for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS)
Only after confirmation of the non-mutant variant on the WGS result, the positive cases are allowed to leave the institutional isolation according to the existing management protocol
All contacts from the positive cases are also quarantined and tested according to ICMR guidelines
In addition, the list of all UK arrivals in the past 28 days has been shared by the Bureau of Immigration with the concerned states.
All passengers arriving from the UK between November 25 – December 20, 2020 will be tracked by the IDSP State Surveillance Units (SSUs) and District Surveillance Units (DSUs)
Samples of all positive cases are sent for WGS and enhanced contact tracking of these positive cases is performed and these contacts are also quarantined.