Abstract We describe a multifactorial investigation of a SARS‐CoV‐2 outbreak in a large meat processing complex in Germany. Infection event timing, spatial, climate and ventilation conditions in the processing plant, sharing of living quarters and transport, and viral genome sequences were analyzed. Our results suggest that a single index case transmitted SARS‐CoV‐2 to co‐workers over distances of more than 8 m, within a confined work area in which air is constantly recirculated and cooled. Viral genome sequencing shows that all cases share a set of mutations representing a novel sub‐branch in the SARS‐CoV‐2 C20 clade. We identified the same set of mutations in samples collected in the time period between this initial infection cluster and a subsequent outbreak within the same factory, with the largest number of confirmed SARS‐CoV‐2 cases in a German meat processing facility reported so far. Our results indicate climate conditions, fresh air exchange rates, and airflow as factors that can promote efficient spread of SARS‐CoV‐2 via long distances and provide insights into possible requirements for pandemic mitigation strategies in industrial workplace settings. There has been considerable debate about the factors contributing to SARS‐CoV‐2 outbreaks in food processing facilities around the world. This multifactorial investigation of an outbreak in a German meat processing plant shows that transmission occurred in a confined working area over long distances.
【저자키워드】 aerosol transmission, Microbiology, Virology & Host Pathogen Interaction, Chromatin, Epigenetics, Genomics & Functional Genomics, Viral genome sequencing, meat processing plant outbreak, SARS‐CoV-2 super spreading event, 【초록키워드】 pandemic, Mutation, Infection, Ventilation, Transmission, SARS‐CoV‐2, Spread, Genome sequencing, Germany, outbreak, Cluster, clade, index case, Transport, Factor, viral genome sequence, complex, multifactorial, initial, analyzed, collected, occurred, reported, transmitted, subsequent, condition, promote, representing, contributing to, conditions, 【제목키워드】 SARS‐CoV‐2, outbreak,