• A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN. 1 has been detected in Kerala as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

• There has been an increasing trend of COVID-19 cases from the state of Kerala since the last few weeks. This has been attributed to an increase in the number of samples from Influenza Like Illness (ILI) cases being referred for testing.

• A majority of these cases are clinically mild and the patients are recovering on their own at their homes, without any treatment.

Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG)

• The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) was established by the government of India in December 2020.

• It was jointly initiated by the Union health ministry of health, and department of biotechnology (DBT) with Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

• It is a national multi-agency consortium of Genome Sequencing Laboratories. 

• Initially, this consortium had 10 laboratories. Subsequently, the scope of laboratories under INSACOG was expanded to 54 laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2. 

• The overall aim of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium INSACOG is to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis through a multi-laboratory network. 

• The mandate of INSACOG has evolved with time and the focus has shifted from primarily tracking variants among international passengers to early detection of variants that may emerge within the Country. 

It has the following objectives:

i) Early detection of genomic variants of public health implication through sentinel surveillance.

ii) To determine the genomic variants in unusual events/trends (vaccine breakthrough, superspreader events, high mortality/morbidity trend areas, etc.)

iii) To correlate the genome surveillance data with epidemiological data.

iv) To suggest public health actions based on the analysis of genomic and epidemiological surveillance data.

• The data from the genome sequencing laboratories is being analysed as per the field data trends to study the linkages, if any, between the genomic variants and epidemiological trends. 

• This helps to understand superspreader events, outbreaks and strengthen public health interventions across the country to help in breaking the chains of transmission.

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