• Chih-Yen Lin, Wen-Hung Wang, Aspiro Nayim Urbina, Sung-Pin Tseng, Po-Liang Lu, Yen-Hsu Chen, Ming-Lung Yu, and Sheng-Fan Wang.
• Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan; Center for Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan.
• Int. J. Infect. Dis. 2020 Aug 1; 97: 240-244.

ObjectiveCOVID-19 has recently become a pandemic affecting many countries worldwide. This study aims to evaluate the current status of COVID-19 in Taiwan and analyze the source of infection.MethodsNational data regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection were obtained from Taiwan. CDC at the end of April 2020. These data were subjected to analysis of the current status and correlation between indigenous and imported COVID-19 cases. A phylogenetic tree was created to analyze the phylogeny of Taiwanese SARS-CoV-2 isolates.ResultsThe first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Taiwan was detected on January 21, 2020. Epidemiological data indicate that by April 30, there were a total of 429 COVID-19 confirmed cases with the death rate of 1.3%. Most cases were identified as imported (79.9%; 343/429), with the majority originating from the United States of America (22.1%) and the United Kingdom (17.6%). Results from phylogenetic tree analyses indicate that the Taiwanese SARS-CoV-2 isolates were clustered with the SARS-CoV-2 isolates from other countries (bootstrap value 98%) and sub-clustered with bat SARS-like coronaviruses (bootstrap value 99%).ConclusionThis study suggests that the importation of SARS-CoV-2 infection was the primary risk-factor resulting in the COVID-19 epidemic in Taiwan.Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

16 keywords...

hide…