SARS-CoV-2 Lineage A.27: New Data from African Countries and Dynamics in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: SARS-CoV-2 is constantly evolving with lineages emerging and others eclipsing. Some lineages have an important epidemiological impact and are known as variants of interest (VOIs), variants under monitoring (VUMs) or variants of concern (VOCs). Lineage A.27 was first defined as a VUM since it holds mutations of concern. Here, we report additional lineage A.27 data and sequences from five African countries and describe the molecular characteristics, and the genetic history of this lineage worldwide. Based on the new sequences investigated, the most recent ancestor (tMRCA) of lineage A.27 was estimated to be from April 2020 from Niger. It then spread to Europe and other parts of the world with a peak observed between February and April 2021. The detection rate of A.27 then decreased with only

SUBMITTER: Chouikha A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9144831 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature