Cross-reactive neutralizing antibody responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 (B.1.351)

No abstract available.The South African Medical Research Council, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the ELMA South Africa Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, the FLAIR Fellowship program, the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 2 of the European Union Horizon 2020 program, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation and the National Research Foundation.http://www.nejm.orgam2022Internal Medicin

A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa.

The progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous, and the full impact is not yet well understood. In this study, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantly from Europe, which diminished after the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1, and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

SHIRAS MOOSE WINTER HABITAT USE IN THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER VALLEY PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE 1988 FIRES

Fourteen radio-collared moose in the upper Yellowstone River drainage of Montana and Wyoming provided information on habitat use patterns during 1987-91. Two basic winter habitat use patterns were evident prior to the 1988 fires in the Yellowstone area. Moose either used willow stands in riparian areas that did not significantly overlap with elk winter range until snow forced them into mature conifer stands, or they used small patches of aspen and willow within elk winter range and retreated to mature conifer stands as these patches were depleted of available browse or covered by snow. Moose that stayed in Yellowstone National Park avoided hunting mortality but may have suffered nutritional penalties by sharing range with elk or by using higher elevation conifer stands with deeper snow. Moose outside thePpark could avoid elk and deep snow more easily but were vulnerable to hunting and faced winter range reduction as mature conifer stands at moderate elevations were logged. Moose that exhibited the high elevation/mature conifer pattern survived extensive burning of their winter ranges by reducing movements and concentrating on small islands of unburned and lightly burned habitat or by shifting home ranges to unburned areas. Moose that shared winter ranges with elk survived the 1988 fires if they were able to avoid excessive movement and find unburned mature conifer stands with snow depths that discouraged elk use

Timing of reservoir formation for Participant CAP188.

Approximately Maximum-Likelihood trees were used for each of the gene regions; OGV sequences are shown in magenta and proviral sequences are shown in black (non-hypermutated viral DNA) and gray (hypermutated viral DNA). Sequences generated from plasma collected within the first year of diagnosis are shown in shades of red, within the last year before therapy initiation are shown in shades of blue, with times between the first and last year shown as orange, yellow, and green. (TIF)</p

Timing of reservoir formation for Participant CAP257.

Approximately Maximum-Likelihood trees were used for each of the gene regions. OGV sequences are shown in magenta and proviral sequences are shown in black (non-hypermutated viral DNA) and gray (hypermutated viral DNA). Sequences generated from plasma collected within the first year of diagnosis are shown in shades of red, within the last year before therapy initiation are shown in shades of blue, with times between the first and last year shown as orange, yellow, and green. (TIF)</p