biostudies-literatureSow MSNational Center for Advancing Translational SciencesWalder Foundation Foundation’s Chicago Coronavirus Assessment Network (Chicago CAN) InitiativeNCATS NIH HHSNIAID NIH HHSYale Institute for Global Health, Yale School of MedicineFIC NIH HHSNational Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Center for Advancing Translational SciencesNIHDixon Family FoundationInstitute for Global Health of Northwestern UniversityThird Coast CFARNorthwestern University Cancer CenterNCI NIH HHSe0299082https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10917296biostudies-literatureUnknown19(3)SARS-CoV-2 has claimed several million lives since its emergence in late 2019. The ongoing evolution of the virus has resulted in the periodic emergence of new viral variants with distinct fitness advantages, including enhanced transmission and immune escape. While several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern trace their origins back to the African continent-including Beta, Eta, and Omicron-most countries in Africa remain under-sampled in global genomic surveillance efforts. In an effort to begin filling these knowledge gaps, we conducted retrospective viral genomic surveillance in Guinea from October 2020 to August 2021. We found that SARS-CoV-2 clades 20A, 20B, and 20C dominated throughout 2020 until the coincident emergence of the Alpha and Eta variants of concern in January 2021. The Alpha variant remained dominant throughout early 2021 until the arrival of the Delta variant in July. Surprisingly, despite the small sample size of our study, we also found the persistence of the early SARS-CoV-2 clade 19B as late as April 2021. Together, these data help fill in our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 population dynamics in West Africa early in the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS oneGenomic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in Guinea, West Africa.PMC10917296R21 AI163912UL1 TR001422UL1 TR002389P30–CA060553P30 CA060553D43 TW010350U19 AI135964P30 AI117943Coulibaly YMaiga MMaiga AIHultquist JFMagassouba MLTogo JLorenzo-Redondo RKeita MBSomboro AMMurphy RLSimons LMDiallo STOzer EASow MSfalseGenomic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in Guinea, West Africa.SARS-CoV-2 has claimed several million lives since its emergence in late 2019. The ongoing evolution of the virus has resulted in the periodic emergence of new viral variants with distinct fitness advantages, including enhanced transmission and immune escape. While several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern trace their origins back to the African continent-including Beta, Eta, and Omicron-most countries in Africa remain under-sampled in global genomic surveillance efforts. In an effort to begin filling these knowledge gaps, we conducted retrospective viral genomic surveillance in Guinea from October 2020 to August 2021. We found that SARS-CoV-2 clades 20A, 20B, and 20C dominated throughout 2020 until the coincident emergence of the Alpha and Eta variants of concern in January 2021. The Alpha variant remained dominant throughout early 2021 until the arrival of the Delta variant in July. Surprisingly, despite the small sample size of our study, we also found the persistence of the early SARS-CoV-2 clade 19B as late as April 2021. Together, these data help fill in our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 population dynamics in West Africa early in the COVID-19 pandemic.2024-01-01T00:00:00Z20242026-07-07T03:13:40.195Z2026-07-07T03:08:13.117ZS-EPMC109172963844680610.1371/journal.pone.0299082