Africa Contributes SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing to COVID-19 Tracking

(courtesy: THE SCIENTIST, 30 Mar 2020)

In recent years, laboratories on the continent have ramped up genomic sequencing capabilities, offering in-country analyses rather than outsourcing the job.
Three days after the confirmation of Nigeria’s first COVID-19 case, the genome sequencing results of the SARS-CoV-2 specimen were announced on March 1. The sputum samples, taken from an Italian consultant who entered Nigeria through Lagos on February 27 before traveling to the neighboring Ogun State, were analyzed at the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at Redeemer University. They became the first analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa, signaling the continent’s contribution to the growing global body of evidence to understand the virus’s behavior outside China.

“We have moved from being spectators to contributors and players in the field of infectious disease genomics,” Christian Happi, ACEGID director in Ede, Nigeria, who led the sequencing effort, tells The Scientist.

Nigeria’s demonstration of rapid sequencing during a health emergency shows that African countries have capacities to monitor the progression of an infectious disease outbreak in real time to understand transmission patterns, says Chikwe Ihekweazu, the director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control based in Abuja. 

Africa’s ability to sequence its own COVID-19 cases demonstrates that countries in the region have invested in diagnostic capabilities, says Ihekweazu. “Whether the tool is used for disease outbreaks or routine surveillance, we now have the capacity to perform in-country sequencing, which has traditionally been done through collaborations with laboratories outside the countries,” he tells The Scientist. 

The Africa Center for Disease Control (CDC) is encouraging countries that have the ability to sequence their own samples to do so, while those that cannot should send their samples to institutions such as ACEGID, Sofonias Kifle Tessema, the head of the genomic sequencing program at Africa CDC, tells The Scientist.

Africa CDC says 4,871 total COVID-19 cases have been reported in 46 African countries with a total of 152 deaths and 340 recoveries as of March 30. ACEGID has enough expertise and equipment to sequence all confirmed cases from Africa so far, but would need more reagents and additional staff to support bigger outbreaks, says Happi. Each sequencing costs about $600 US.

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