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The COVID-19 pandemic has not only strained healthcare systems in Africa but has also intensified the impact of emerging and re-emerging diseases. Specifically in Equatorial Guinea, mirroring the situation in other African countries, unique zoonotic outbreaks have occurred during this challenging period. One notable resurgence is Marburg virus disease (MVD), which has further burdened the already fragile healthcare system. The re-emergence of the Marburg virus amid the COVID-19 pandemic is believed to stem from a probable zoonotic spill-over, although the precise transmission routes remain uncertain. Given the gravity of the situation, addressing the existing challenges is paramount. Though the genome sequences from the current outbreak were not available for this study, we analyzed all the available whole genome sequences of this re-emerging pathogen to advocate for a shift towards active surveillance. This is essential to ensure the successful containment of any potential Marburg virus outbreak in Equatorial Guinea and the wider African context. This study, which presents an update on the phylodynamics and the genetic variability of MARV, further confirmed the existence of at least two distinct patterns of viral spread. One pattern demonstrates a slower but continuous and recurring virus circulation, while the other exhibits a faster yet limited and episodic spread. These results highlight the critical need to strengthen genomic surveillance in the region to effectively curb the pathogen's dissemination. Moreover, the study emphasizes the importance of prompt alert management, comprehensive case investigation and analysis, contact tracing, and active case searching. These steps are vital to support the healthcare system's response to this emerging health crisis. By implementing these strategies, we can better arm ourselves against the challenges posed by the resurgence of the Marburg virus and other infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which describes the genomic epidemiology of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using a dataset of genomes from several African countries and overseas territories. Topics include a brief background on the spread of the coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, China in 2019, an overview of the genomic surveillance efforts in Africa from the onset of the pandemic, and data on Africa's contribution to the international spread of the virus.

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) originated in non-human primates in West-central Africa and continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed almost 33 million lives so far. In Africa, it is estimated that more than 20 million people are living with HIV/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and that more than 730,000 new HIV-1 infections still occur each year, likely due to low access to testing. The high genetic variability of HIV-1, due to a fast replication cycle and high mutation rate, may cause the generation of many viral variants in a single infected patient during a single day. Therefore, the active monitoring and characterization of the HIV-1 subtypes and recombinant forms circulating through African countries poses a significant challenge to more specific diagnoses, treatments, care, and intervention strategies. In this review, a concise characterization of all the subtypes and recombinant forms circulating in Africa is presented to highlight the magnitude of the HIV-1 threat among the African countries and to understand virus genetic diversity and dispersion dynamics better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has raised serious concerns due to the virus' rapid dissemination into new geographic areas and the clinical features associated with infection. To better understand CHIKV dynamics in Rio de Janeiro, we generated 11 near-complete genomes by means of real-time portable nanopore sequencing of virus isolates obtained directly from clinical samples. To better understand CHIKV dynamics in Rio de Janeiro, we generated 11 near-complete genomes by means of real-time portable nanopore sequencing of virus isolates obtained directly from clinical samples. Our phylogenetic reconstructions indicated the circulation of the East-Central-South-African (ECSA) lineage in Rio de Janeiro. Time-measured phylogenetic analysis combined with CHIKV notified case numbers revealed the ECSA lineage was introduced in Rio de Janeiro around June 2015 (95% Bayesian credible interval: May to July 2015) indicating the virus was circulating unnoticed for 5 months before the first reports of CHIKV autochthonous transmissions in Rio de Janeiro, in November 2015. These findings reinforce that continued genomic surveillance strategies are needed to assist in the monitoring and understanding of arbovirus epidemics, which might help to attenuate public health impact of infectious diseases., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The worldwide distributed Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype A is classified into three subgenotypes, and one quasi-subgenotype. The majority of HBV-A subgenotypes are widespread in Africa and in ethnic groups that have relatively recently emigrated from African countries, whereas HBV-A2 is highly prevalent among subjects at high risk for sexual exposure to HBV in north-western Europe and the USA. The aim of this study was to reconstruct the origin and dispersion of HBV-A subgenotypes on a reliable timescale using short-term calibration based on heterochronous sampling for HBV-A2, and long-term calibration based on historical data for the other subgenotypes. To this aim, we analysed 113 newly characterised HBV-A isolates with 247 reference sequences retrieved from a public database. The phylodynamic reconstruction was performed by a Bayesian framework. The common ancestor of the currently circulating A subgenotypes was placed in west-central Africa a mean 1057 years ago. The genotype diverged into two main clades at the beginning of the 13th century: one including all of the west-central African quasi-subgenotypes and the other corresponding to subgenotype A1, originating in east Africa and further segregating into two main subclades: an "African" and a "cosmopolitan" clade. It is likely that the slave trade was the main source the spread of cosmopolitan HBV-A1, which was exported to Asia in the 17th century as a result of Arab or Portuguese trade, and to Latin America in the 18th centuries through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The origin of the currently circulating A2 strains dates back to the first decades of the 20th century, and the evolutionary demography analysis suggests an exponential growth of infections, between 1970s and the mid-1990s. In conclusion, the very different epidemiological and evolutionary histories of HBV-A subgenotypes justify the use of different calibration approaches to reconstruct their reciprocal phylodynamics., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ebola virus Zaire (EBOV) has reemerged in Africa, emphasizing the global importance of this pathogen. Amidst the response to the current epidemic, several gaps in our knowledge of EBOV evolution are evident. Specifically, uncertainty has been raised regarding the potential emergence of more virulent viral variants through amino acid substitutions. Glycoprotein (GP), an essential component of the EBOV genome, is highly variable and a potential site for the occurrence of advantageous mutations. For this study, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of EBOV by analyzing 65 GP sequences from humans and great apes over diverse locations across epidemic waves between 1976 and 2014. We show that, although patterns of spatial dispersion throughout Africa varied, the evolution of the virus has largely been characterized by neutral genetic drift. Therefore, the radical emergence of more transmissible variants is unlikely, a positive finding, which is increasingly important on the verge of vaccine deployment.