What to know
The Multnomah County Health Department, the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory, and the Oregon Health & Science University monitored emerging variants in the region.
Findings on SARS-CoV-2 variant characteristics and surveillance
Awarded in 2021, this project expanded SARS-CoV-2 surveillance efforts and established low-cost sample sequencing pipelines. Researchers emphasized the dynamics of existing SARS-CoV-2 lineages and the emergence of locally evolving high-impact variants associated with potential vaccine escape, super spreader events, and reinfection cases.
This project established a workflow to process up to approximately 300 sequences every three days. It also provided both serologic and virologic characterization of variants. By streamlining genomic sequencing activities, researchers improved surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 for the state of Oregon.