What are SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the WHO Africa region member states telling us?

Authors: Lu, Lu;

Lycett, Samantha J. ;

Ashworth, Jordan;

Mutapi, Francisca;

Woolhouse, Mark

Source: BMJ Global Health

Full text

: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004408

Abstract

To date, 23 countries from the WHO Africa region have deposited a total of 3995 SARS-CoV-2 sequences to publicly available databases, with the majority of the genomes being from South Africa (56%).

Eight-four different lineages have been identified from these countries with 86% genomes belonging to the B.1 sublineage and its descendants.

There have been multiple separate introductions of SARS-CoV-2 infections into Africa, with approximately 43% of these coming from Europe.

95% of African SARS-CoV-2 genomes have the D614G mutation in spike protein thought to be associated with higher infectivity but lower disease severity.

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Cite as

Lu, L., Lycett, S., Ashworth, J., Mutapi, F. & Woolhouse, M. 2021, 'What are SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the WHO Africa region member states telling us?', BMJ Global Health, 6(1), article no: e004408. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004408

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004408

Repository URI: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/what-are-sarscov2-genomes-from-the-who-africa-region-member-states-telling-us(d4e32ee6-eeaa-499a-bcf2-0071a8c10e74).html