IMPORTANCE Data sets linking comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) to clinical outcomes may accelerate precision medicine.OBJECTIVE To assess whether a database that combines EHR-derived clinical data with CGP can identify and extend associations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Clinical data from EHRs were linked with CGP results for 28 998 patients from 275 US oncology practices. Among 4064 patients with NSCLC, exploratory associations between tumor genomics and patient characteristics with clinical outcomes were conducted, with data obtained between January 1, 2011, and January 1, 2018.EXPOSURES Tumor CGP, including presence of a driver alteration (a pathogenic or likely pathogenic alteration in a gene shown to drive tumor growth); tumor mutation burden (TMB), defined as the number of mutations per megabase; and clinical characteristics gathered from EHRs. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESOverall survival (OS), time receiving therapy, maximal therapy response (as documented by the treating physician in the EHR), and clinical benefit rate (fraction of patients with stable disease, partial response, or complete response) to therapy. RESULTS Among 4064 patients with NSCLC (median age, 66.0 years; 51.9% female), 3183 (78.3%) had a history of smoking, 3153 (77.6%) had nonsquamous cancer, and 871 (21.4%) had an alteration in EGFR, ALK, or ROS1 (701 [17.2%] with EGFR, 128 [3.1%] with ALK, and 42 [1.0%] with ROS1 alterations). There were 1946 deaths in 7 years. For patients with a driver alteration, improved OS was observed among those treated with (n = 575) vs not treated with (n = 560) targeted therapies (median, 18.6 months [95% CI, 15.2-21.7] vs 11.4 months [95% CI, 9.7-12.5] from advanced diagnosis; P < .001). TMB (in mutations/Mb) was significantly higher among smokers vs nonsmokers (8.7 [IQR,] vs 2.6 [IQR, 1.7-5.2]; P < .001) and significantly lower among patients with vs without an alteration in EGFR (3.5 [IQR, 1.76-6.1] vs 7.8 [IQR, 3.5-13.9]; P < .001), ALK (2.1 [IQR, 0.9-4.0] vs 7.0 [IQR, 3.5-13.0]; P < .001), RET (4.6 [IQR,] vs 7.0 [IQR, 2.6-13.0]; P = .004), or ROS1 (4.0 [IQR, 1.2-9.6] vs 7.0 [IQR, 2.6-13.0]; P = .03). In patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies (n = 1290, 31.7%), TMB of 20 or more was significantly associated with improved OS from therapy initiation (16.8 months [95% CI, 11.6-24.9] vs 8.5 months [95% CI, 7.6-9.7]; P < .001), longer time receiving therapy (7.8 months [95% CI, 5.5-11.1] vs 3.3 months [95% CI, 2.8-3.7]; P < .001), and increased clinical benefit rate (80.7% vs 56.7%; P < .001) vs TMB less than 20.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among patients with NSCLC included in a longitudinal database of clinical data linked to CGP results from routine care, exploratory analyses replicated previously described associations between clinical and genomic characteristics, between driver mutations and response to targeted therapy, and between TMB and response to immunotherapy. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of creating a clinicogenomic database der...

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of virus genome sequencing to guide public health interventions to control virus transmission and understand SARS-CoV-2 evolution. As of July 20th, 2021, >2 million SARS-CoV-2 genomes have been submitted to GISAID, 94% from high income and 6% from low and middle income countries. Here, we analyse the spatial and temporal heterogeneity in SARS-CoV-2 global genomic surveillance efforts. We report a comprehensive analysis of virus lineage diversity and genomic surveillance strategies adopted globally, and investigate their impact on the detection of known SARS-CoV-2 virus lineages and variants of concern. Our study provides a perspective on the global disparities surrounding SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance, their causes and consequences, and possible solutions to maximize the impact of pathogen genome sequencing for efforts on public health.

Genomic sequencing is essential to track the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2, optimize molecular tests, treatments, vaccines, and guide public health responses. To investigate the global SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance, we used sequences shared via GISAID to estimate the impact of sequencing intensity and turnaround times on variant detection in 189 countries. In the first two years of the pandemic, 78% of high-income countries sequenced >0.5% of their COVID-19 cases, while 42% of low- and middle-income countries reached that mark. Around 25% of the genomes from high income countries were submitted within 21 days, a pattern observed in 5% of the genomes from low- and middle-income countries. We found that sequencing around 0.5% of the cases, with a turnaround time <21 days, could provide a benchmark for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance. Socioeconomic inequalities undermine the global pandemic preparedness, and efforts must be made to support low- and middle-income countries improve their local sequencing capacity.

Brucellosis is the most common anthropozoonosis, with more than 500,000 cases annually. While the disease was eradicated in the vast majority of industrialized regions around the world, it remains a significant public health concern, mainly in the Mediterranean littoral, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent, Asia, Africa, and Central and South America (19,26).Turkey is a relatively large country in the eastern Mediterranean region, with a geographical surface of 783,562 km 2 , and comprises seven regions. It has a population of 72 million, 70% of which lives in cities and 30% in rural areas. Brucellosis is endemic, and approximately 10,000 human brucellosis cases are reported annually. The reported incidence is 150 cases per 1 million inhabitants (24). Its prevalence varies widely from region to region due to several factors, including food habits, milk processing methods, husbandry practices, nomadism, social customs, climatic conditions, socioeconomic status, and environmental conditions. A steady increase of reported human cases was observed from 1986 (3.03/100,000 population) until 2004 (25.65/100,000). Livestock vaccination, elimination of infected animals, control of animal movements, and education induced a decline in the number of annually reported human cases, from 18,563 cases in 2004 to 9,818 cases in 2008 (17).Rapid and accurate typing procedures are crucial for epidemiologic surveillance, investigation of outbreaks, and follow-up of a control program. Many molecular typing methods commonly used for the subtyping of isolates of other bacterial species are not appropriate for routine typing of Brucella strains, and none has proven to be fully satisfactory for epidemiological trace-back investigations of brucellosis (1,9,25). Recently, a selection of 16 variable-number tandem repeats has been proposed for fingerprinting Brucella isolates (7,14,25). This multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) genotyping system, MLVA-16 Orsay , comprised eight minisatellite markers (panel 1, Bruce06, Bruce08, Bruce11, Bruce12, Bruce42, Bruce43, Bruce45, and Bruce55) for species identification and eight complementary microsatellite markers (panel 2A, Bruce18, Bruce19, and Bruce21; panel

The 1997–2005 tularemia outbreak in Bulgaria affected 285 people. Ten strains were isolated from humans, a tick, a hare, and water. Amplified fragment length polymorphism typing of the present isolates and of the strain isolated in 1962 suggests that a new genetic variant caused the outbreak.