Journal article
The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance
- Abstract:
- Investment in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences that have been generated and used to track the pandemic on the continent, a number that now exceeds 100,000 genomes. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries that are able to sequence domestically and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround times and more-regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and illuminate the distinct dispersal dynamics of variants of concern—particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron—on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve while the continent faces many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 10.1MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1126/science.abq5358
- Publisher:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Journal:
- Science More from this journal
- Volume:
- 378
- Issue:
- 6615
- Article number:
- eabq5358
- Place of publication:
- United States
- Publication date:
- 2022-10-07
- Acceptance date:
- 2022-09-12
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1095-9203
- ISSN:
-
0036-8075
- Pmid:
-
36108049
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1279836
- Local pid:
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pubs:1279836
- Deposit date:
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2023-04-12
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Tegally et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2022
- Rights statement:
- © 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This license does not apply to figures/photos/artwork or other content included in the article that is credited to a third party; obtain authorization from the rights holder before using such material.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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