Many cases of infections with the new coronavirus that have spread in Japan since March are highly likely to have been transmitted via Europe and the United States, according to an analysis by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The institute decoded the genome of samples taken from about 560 patients in Japan. It also obtained virus information from about 4,500 patients registered by research institutes around the world and analyzed it. It has been confirmed that the coronavirus, which has spread across the globe, has mutated into variants, so by examining the genetic information, the origin of a strain of the virus can be surmised.
The results of the analysis suggest that the strain of the virus detected in early mass infections in Japan and in patients aboard the cruise ship "Diamond Princess" was closely related to the virus detected in Wuhan, China, in early January. The NIID said infections of the virus strain from Wuhan "appear to have ended."
The institute went on to say that the strain confirmed in Japan after that was linked to one that had been spreading in European countries and the United States since early March.
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