The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Wednesday that it has managed to separate new coronavirus collected from the confirmed Korean patients, and found no genetic mutation from those found overseas.

According to the genetic information released by KCDC, the separated virus matched 99.5 to 99.9 percent of the genetic sequence of those separated in other countries, including China, France, Singapore and Germany. “We found no meaningful genetic mutation, and the name of the isolated new coronavirus is BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020,” it said.

The genetic sequence information of the isolated coronavirus is registered in the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, and the researchers worldwide can utilize the information on their studies, the agency noted. Similar information from each country is also registered in the GISAID of the World Health Organization, it added.

“The separated virus is an indispensable resource to diagnose and treat the epidemic as well as develop vaccines,” KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong said, adding that the agency would share the information with other related agencies.

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