African scientists have shown that most of Africa’s Covid-19 variants came from abroad, even though African countries were the ones slapped with travel bans, in a new report.
The scientific report from Africa was featured in the journal Science and includes more than 300 authors from Africa and abroad who worked together to describe and analyse more than 100 000 genomes and characterise SARS-CoV-2 variants in real time.
The study was led by two labs that set up the network for genomics surveillance in South Africa at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) at Stellenbosch University and the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform (KRISP) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“The enormous leap Africa made in genomic surveillance during the past two years is the silver lining in the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
“The continent is now better prepared to face down both old and emerging pathogens. This is a model of how when Africans are in the driving seat we can come up with lasting change and stay a step ahead of dangerous diseases.”
The study results highlighted that most SARS-CoV-2 variants, which caused an epidemic in Africa, were introduced from abroad.
According to the study, the initial waves of infections in Africa were primarily seeded by multiple introductions of viral lineages from abroad, mainly Europe.
The Alpha variant that emerged in Europe at the end of 2020, was responsible for infections in 43 countries with evidence of community transmission in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Gabon and Angola.
The scientific community said for the Delta variant, the bulk of introductions were attributed to India (approximately 72%), mainland Europe (approximately 8%), the UK (approximately 5%), and the US (approximately 2.5%).
“For Omicron, the scientific results indicate more reintroductions of the variant back into Africa, with at least 69 from Europe and 102 from North America than from other African countries. This was amplified for Omicron BA.2; the results suggest at least 99 separate introduction or reintroduction events of BA.2 into African countries, approximately 65% of which are from Europe and approximately 30% from Asia,” the report said.
Professor Tulio de Oliveira, director of CERI and KRISP, which led the consortium analysis with the Africa CDC and WHO AFRO, said the ironic part of the results was that most of the introductions of variants in Africa were from abroad, but Africa was the most discriminated and penalised continent in the world with travel bans imposed.
“Instead of unscientific and inappropriate reactions, we should be building on the infrastructure established in Africa so that the continent can rapidly pivot to other epidemics without the fear of being punished,” said De Oliveira.
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