The strain that has more resemblance to the Asian strains than the majority of the types discovered in Europe was discovered in the last of what have been three genomic tests conducted for Slovenian patients so far.

The work is being done by experts from the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food, the Maribor Medical Faculty and the Adolf Drolc Community Health Centre in Maribor.

The genome studied in Maribor resembles the types reported from Malaysia and Singapore, while the first two are closer to the strains detected in European countries, in particular Belgium and the Netherlands.

"This means we got very different viruses. It seems that the infections in Slovenia do not stem from a single patient and that the virus arrived from different sources and through different routes," the head of the research lab at the National Laboratory Maja Rupnik told the STA.

She announced the genomes of more patients would be checked in the future and that the complexity of the operation had required more time for the first cases.

The genomes help experts see how fast a virus is mutating, which will be important in the development of a vaccine.

"Following the mutations is also important because it can help us explain different infection clusters, it shows us whether we have more dangerous versions of the virus among the population and helps determine the effectiveness of the vaccine when it will be available," the National Laboratory explain