SPOTLIGHT

KRISP NEWS

Webinar Series on COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance in Africa

The Africa Union and AfricaCDC, in partnership with SANBI, KRISP, H3AbioNet and the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases have started a weekly Webinar series to capacitate African researchers on the generation and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomic data in Africa.

Early transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa

The Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) presents a molecular epidemiological study of the first twenty-one SARS-CoV-2 whole genomes sampled in the first port of entry, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), during the first month of the epidemic.

Snapshot of African SARS-CoV-2 Diversity

This report focuses on the first SARS-CoV-2 388 genomes from Africa. These genomes were accessed from GISAID and analysed against a backdrop of reference sequences. By comparing our viral genomes against others, we can infer how and when SARS-CoV-2 was introduced into Africa and how it has spread within the continent.

Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA)

KRISP is a founding member of the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa. A network of laboratories, scientists and academic institutions that have joined forces to ensure the public health responses to COVID-19 in South Africa have access to the best possible scientific data.

South Africa: How to get the best readings from thermometers

Experts weigh in on how to avoid inaccurate results during Covid-19 testing. Distance, hair and sweat can all affect the reading of the temperature scans you've been experiencing at work, shopping malls and schools.

5fm Catch Up: Dexamethasone (Professor Tulio de Oliveira, Dr Richard Lessells and Prof Yunus Moosa)

Nick Hammer chats to Prof Tulio De Oliveira, Dr. Richard Lessells and Prof Yunus Moosa about the trial on the UK of Dexamethasone for COVID-19.

SA accelerating towards virus peak without capacity, experts warn

With Covid-19 now growing by leaps and bounds in South Africa, a Mail & Guardian survey has spotlighted the nationwide shortage of staff, equipment and facilities needed to cope with the infected people who are set to flood the healthcare system when the outbreak hits its peak.

KRISP SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

Whole Genome Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2: Adapting Illumina Protocols for Quick and Accurate Outbreak Investigation During a Pandemic.
Pillay S, Giandhari J, Tegally H, Wilkinson E, Chimukangara B, Lessells R, Mattison S, Moosa Y, Gazy I, Fish M, Singh L, Khanyile KS, Fonseca V, Giovanetti M, Alcantara LCJ, de Oliveira T, bioRxiv pre-print (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.10.144212:.

Early transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa: An epidemiological and phylogenetic report.
Giandhari J, Pillay S, Wilkinson E, Tegally H, Sinayskiy I, Schuld M, Lourenço J, Chimukangara B, Lessells R, Moosa Y, Gazy I, Fish M, Singh L, Khanyile KS, Fonseca V, Giovanetti M, Alcantara LCJ, Petruccione F, de Oliveira T, medRxiv pre-print (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.29.20116376:.

Protocol: Leveraging a demographic and health surveillance system for Covid-19 Surveillance in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
Siedner MJ, Harling G, Derache A, Smit T, Khoza T, Gunda R, Mngomezulu T, Gareta D, Majozi N, Ehlers E, Dreyer J, Nxumalo S, Dayi N, Ording-Jesperson G, Ngwenya N, Wong E, Iwuji C, Shahmanesh M, Seeley J, de Oliveira T, Ndung'u T, Hanekom W, Herbst K, Wellcome Open Research (2020), 5:109:.

The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic in Minas Gerais, Brazil: insights from epidemiological data and SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing.
Xavier J, Giovanetti M, Adelino T, Fonseca V, da Costa AVB, Ribeiro AA, Felicio KN, Duarte CG, Silva MVF, Salgado A, Lima MT, de Jesus D, Fabri A, Zoboli CFS, Santos TGS, Iani F,de Filippis AMB, de Siqueira AMNT, de Abreu AL, de Azevedo V, Ramalho DBR, de Albuquerque CFC, de Oliveira T, Holmes EC, Lourenco J, Alcantara CLJ, Oliveira MAA, medRxiv pre-print (2020), :.

Pervasive and non-random recombination in near full-length HIV genomes from Uganda.
Grant HE, Hodcroft EB, Ssemwanga D, Kitayimbwa JM, Yebra G, Gomez LRE, Frampton D, Gall A, Kellam P, de Oliveira T, Bbosa N, Nsubuga RN, Kibengo F, Kwan TH, Lycett S, Kao R, Robertson DL, Ratmann O, Fraser C, Pillay D, Kaleebu P, Leigh-Brown AJ, Virus Evolution (2020), veaa004, https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veaa004:.

Sampling bias and incorrect rooting make phylogenetic network tracing of SARS-COV-2 infections unreliable.
Mavian C, Pond SK, Marini S, Magalis BR, Vandamme A-M, Dellicour S, Scarpino SV, Houldcroft C, Villabona-Arenas J, Paisie TK, Trovão NS, Boucher C, Zhang Y, Scheuermann RH, Gascuel O, Lam TTY, Suchard MA, Abecasis A, Wilkinson E, de Oliveira T, Bento AI, Schmidt HA, Martin D, Hadfield J, Faria N, Grubaugh ND, Neher RA, Baele G, Lemey P, Stadler T, Albert J, Crandall KA, Leitner T, Stamatakis A, Prosperi M, Salemi M, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (2020), doi:10.1073/pnas.2007295117:.

Priorities among HIV-positive individuals for tuberculosis preventive therapies.
Kim HY, Hanrahan CF, Dowdy DW, Martinson NA, Golub JE, Bridges JFP, Int J Tuberc Lung Dis (2020), 24(4):396-402. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.18.0740:.

KRISP VIDEOS

Curation and Analysis of Data in Africa by Africans: Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA)
By: San Emmanuel James and Jennifer Giandhari

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