Viruses (Nov 2023)

COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance in Bangui (Central African Republic) Reveals a Landscape of Circulating Variants Linked to Validated Antiviral Targets of SARS-CoV-2 Proteome

  • Ulrich Vickos,
  • Marianna Camasta,
  • Nicole Grandi,
  • Sante Scognamiglio,
  • Tobias Schindler,
  • Marie Roseline Darnycka Belizaire,
  • Ernest Lango-Yaya,
  • Giscard Wilfried Koyaweda,
  • Oscar Senzongo,
  • Simon Pounguinza,
  • Kaleb Kandou Jephté Francis Estimé,
  • Stephanie N’yetobouko,
  • Christelle Luce Bobossi Gadia,
  • Dominos-Alfred Feiganazoui,
  • Alain Le Faou,
  • Massimiliano Orsini,
  • Carlo Federico Perno,
  • Luca Zinzula,
  • Clotaire Donatien Rafaï

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122309
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 12
p. 2309

Abstract

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Since its outbreak, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread rapidly, causing the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Even with the vaccines’ administration, the virus continued to circulate due to inequal access to prevention and therapeutic measures in African countries. Information about COVID-19 in Africa has been limited and contradictory, and thus regional studies are important. On this premise, we conducted a genomic surveillance study about COVID-19 lineages circulating in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR). We collected 2687 nasopharyngeal samples at four checkpoints in Bangui from 2 to 22 July 2021. Fifty-three samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and viral genomes were sequenced to look for the presence of different viral strains. We performed phylogenetic analysis and described the lineage landscape of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the CAR along 15 months of pandemics and in Africa during the study period, finding the Delta variant as the predominant Variant of Concern (VoC). The deduced aminoacidic sequences of structural and non-structural genes were determined and compared to reference and reported isolates from Africa. Despite the limited number of positive samples obtained, this study provides valuable information about COVID-19 evolution at the regional level and allows for a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 circulation in the CAR.

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