Early transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa: An epidemiological and phylogenetic report.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) was formed to investigate the introduction and understand the early transmission dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in South-Africa.

Design

This paper presents the first results from this group, which is a molecular epidemiological study of the first 21 SARS-CoV-2 whole genomes sampled in the first port of entry - KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) - during the first month of the epidemic. By combining this with calculations of the effective reproduction number (R), it aimed to shed light on the patterns of infections in South Africa.

Results

Two of the largest provinces - Gauteng and KZN - had a slow growth rate for the number of detected cases, while the epidemic spread faster in the Western Cape and Eastern

SUBMITTER: Giandhari J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7658561 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature