As part of the $1.7 billion Pathogen Genomics Center of Excellence, the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory will play a key role preventing the spread of disease-causing pathogens, including new COVID-19 variants.
UpdatedWed, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:46 pm PT
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In this March 11, 2020 photo, a laboratory technician prepares COVID-19 patient samples for semi-automatic testing at Northwell Health Labs, in Lake Success, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
SHORELINE, WA Washington is boosting efforts to identify new COVID-19 strains across the state and ramping up capacity at its Shoreline lab, the Department of Health announced Wednesday.
Public and private labs have genetically sequenced random samples since the early days of the pandemic, which helps researchers learn more about how the virus mutates as it moves through the community.
While mutations are common in all viruses, some variants of concern are more troublesome, with traits that make them spread easier or cause more serious illnesses. Washington s previous sequencing efforts successfully identified the B.1.1.7 variant, which earlier swept across the UK, and, most recently, the B.1.351 variant, previously linked to outbreaks in