Isolation of First COVID‐19 case Outside China Wins National Prize

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The isolation of the SARS‐ CoV‐2 virus was obtained by inoculation of Vero/hSLAM cells with material from the nasopharyngeal swab in culture. The Clinical course and laboratory features of the first COVID‐19 case in Australia were described to assess its major outcome with the world.

Further microscopic examination confirmed the presence of SARS‐CoV‐2 genomes in the viruses of the family Coronaviridae, with greater than 99.99% sequence identity. The result was immediately shared with local and overseas reference laboratories and major North American and European culture collections.

“We applied standard techniques to isolate the virus, but we were the first group to isolate it outside China during the early stages of the epidemic. Potential reasons for our success could be the viral burden of the collected specimens and the extensive clinical experience in our reference laboratory,” says Leon Caly, Senior Medical Scientist at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) ​​at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and colleagues.

The study states that one of the important aspects of the scientific response to the COVID‐19 outbreak was the rapid sharing of information on the virus.

“We continue to share live virus with other agencies, both locally and overseas, involved in the development and testing of therapeutic agents and vaccines. This is an essential function of public health reference and research laboratories, and we strongly encourage others to apply a similarly collaborative approach to streamlining efforts to diagnose, prevent, and treat COVID‐19 during this public health emergency”, says the study author.

Source: Medindia