Investment in SARS-CoV-2 sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences generated, now exceeding 100,000 genomes, used to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence domestically, and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround time and more regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and shed light on the distinct dispersal dynamics of Variants of Concern, particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron, on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, while the continent faces many emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century.

BackgroundThe adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum parasitized red blood cell (PRBC) to human endothelial cells (EC) induces inflammatory processes, coagulation cascades, oxidative stress and apoptosis. These pathological processes are suspected to be responsible for the blood-brain-barrier and other organs' endothelial dysfunctions observed in fatal cases of malaria. Atorvastatin, a drug that belongs to the lowering cholesterol molecule family of statins, has been shown to ameliorate endothelial functions and is widely used in patients with cardiovascular disorders.MethodsThe effect of this compound on PRBC induced endothelial impairments was assessed using endothelial co-culture models.ResultsAtorvastatin pre-treatment of EC was found to reduce the expression of adhesion molecules and P. falciparum cytoadherence, to protect cells against PRBC-induced apoptosis and to enhance endothelial monolayer integrity during co-incubation with parasites.ConclusionsThese results might suggest a potential interest use of atorvastatin as a protective treatment to interfere with the pathophysiological cascades leading to severe malaria.

Little research on coronaviruses has been conducted on wild animals inAfrica. Here, we screened a wide range of wild animals collected in six provinces and five caves of Gabon between 2009 and 2015. We collected a total of 1867 animal samples (cave-dwelling bats, rodents, non-human primates and other wild animals). We explored the diversity of CoVs and determined the factors driving the infection of CoVs in wild animals. Based on a nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, only bats, belonging to the Hipposideros gigas (4/156), Hipposideros cf. ruber (13/262) and Miniopterus inflatus (1/249) species, were found infected with CoVs. We identified alphacoronaviruses in H. gigas and H. cf. ruber and betacoronaviruses in H. gigas. All Alphacoronavirus sequences grouped with Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E). Ecological analyses revealed that CoV infection was significantly found in July and October in H. gigas and in october and november in H. cf ruber. The prevalence in the Faucon cave was significantly higher. Our findings suggest that insectivorous bats harbor potentially zoonotic CoVs; highlight a probable seasonality of the infection in cave-dwelling bats from the North-East of Gabon and pointed to an association between the disturbance of the bats' habitat by human activities and CoV infection.open Scientific RepoRtS | (2020) 10:7314 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64159-1www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ play an important role in the chain of transmission and the emergence of these viruses in humans, namely palm civets 5 and wild rodents, in which infections by an alphacoronavirus and a betacoronavirus have been recently identified 16 .Gabon, a country located in Central Africa, displays a large diversity of wildlife species. Aside from bats in which CoVs have been detected in the cave-dwelling species Hipposideros cf. ruber 17 , to our knowledge, there is no information on the carriage of other mammalian species. CoVs are prone to host switching 18 and could be a current and future threat to public health.The aim of this study was to explore the genetic diversity and the ecology of CoVs circulating among several wild mammals in Gabon in order to determine the potential reservoir species of these viruses and the risk for zoonotic emergence, and identify the factors driving CoVs infection in bats.

No abstract