Genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Ghana from 2020-2021.
Collins Misita Morang'aJoyce M NgoiJones GyamfiDominic S Y AmuzuBenjamin Demah NuerteyPhilip M SogloVincent AppiahIvy A AsantePaul Owusu-OduroSamuel ArmooDennis Adu-GyasiNicholas AmoakoJoseph Oliver-CommeyMichael OwusuAugustina SylverkenEdward D FentengViolette V M'cormackFrederick M Tei-MayaEvelyn B QuansahReuben Ayivor-DjanieEnock K AmoakoIsaac T OgbeBright K YemiIsrael Osei-WusuDeborah N A MettleSamirah SaiidKesego TapelaFrancis DzabengVanessa MagnussenJerry QuayePrecious C OpurumRosina A A CarrPatrick T AbabioAbdul-Karim AbassSamuel K AkoriyeaEmmanuella AmoakoFrederick Kumi-AnsahOliver D BoakyeDam K MibutTheophilus OdoomLawrence Ofori-BoaduEmmanuel Allegye-CudjoeSylvester DassahVictor AsoalaKwaku P AsanteRichard O PhillipsMike Y Osei-AtweneboanaJohn O GyapongPatrick Kuma-AboagyeWilliam K AmpofoKwabena Obeng DueduNicaise T NdamYaw BediakoPeter Kojo QuashieLucas N Amenga-EtegoGordon Akanzuwine AwandarePublished in: Nature communications (2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the fastest evolving pandemics in recent history. As such, the SARS-CoV-2 viral evolution needs to be continuously tracked. This study sequenced 1123 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from patient isolates (121 from arriving travellers and 1002 from communities) to track the molecular evolution and spatio-temporal dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Ghana. The data show that initial local transmission was dominated by B.1.1 lineage, but the second wave was overwhelmingly driven by the Alpha variant. Subsequently, an unheralded variant under monitoring, B.1.1.318, dominated transmission from April to June 2021 before being displaced by Delta variants, which were introduced into community transmission in May 2021. Mutational analysis indicated that variants that took hold in Ghana harboured transmission enhancing and immune escape spike substitutions. The observed rapid viral evolution demonstrates the potential for emergence of novel variants with greater mutational fitness as observed in other parts of the world.