The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) - UK Branch delegation has come for a high level visit to the Parliament of South Africa on May 1923, 2025, in Cape Town. The visit aimed to deepen relations between the U.K .Parliament and the South African Parliament, with the delegation meeting members of both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
In a significant stride toward enhancing next-generation sequencing (NGS) expertise across the continent, the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) hosted a comprehensive 7-day Illumina Library Preparation and Sequencing workshop this May. Held from the 6th to the 14th of May at KRISPs cutting-edge facility, the workshop brought together 15 enthusiastic participants from diverse research backgrounds, all eager to deepen their understanding of NGSfrom wet lab techniques to data analysis.
On Friday, 23 May, KRISP had the honour of hosting 21 enthusiastic Grade 12 learners from KwaMathanda High School, part of the IkamvaYouth Science Track in Umlazi. This inspiring outreach day formed part of KRISPs broader mission to create meaningful opportunities for young South Africans to engage with science and consider future careers in genomics and research.
SACEMAs flaship short course, Introduction to Epidemiological Analysis, recently concluded a successful week of training, equipping participants with essential skills in epidemiological thinking and data analysis. Designed for students, researchers, and public health professionals, the course combined rigorous academic content with hands-on application, delivering a dynamic and impactful learning experience.
Graduation season is upon usand at KRISP, were proudly celebrating the academic achievements of five exceptional team members who have reached major milestones in their scientific journeys.
On 14 May 2025, CERI hosted an interactive photography workshop in the famous glassenclosed fishbowl boardroom at the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking.
In an age where misinformation spreads faster than facts, it has never been more crucial for scientists to engage the public. An open lecture by Prof. Marina Joubert.
Tracing the spatial origins and spread of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages in South Africa.
Dor G, Wilkinson E, Martin DP, Moir M, Tshiabuila D, Kekana D, Ntozini B, Joseph R, Iranzadeh A, Nyaga MM, Goedhals D, Maponga T, Maritz J, Laguda-Akingba O, Ramphal Y, MacIntyre C, Chabuka L, Pillay S, Giandhari J, Baxter C, Hsiao NY, Preiser W, Bhiman JN, Davies MA, Venter M, Treurnicht FK, Wolter N, Williamson C, von Gottberg A, Lessells R, Tegally H, de Oliveira T, Nature Communications (2025), 28;16(1):4937. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-60081-0:.
Genomic Surveillance of Climate-Amplified Cholera Outbreak, Malawi, 20222023.
Chabuka L, Choga W, Mavian C, Moir M, Morgenstern C, Tegaly H, Sharma A, Wilkinson E, Naidoo Y, Inward R, Bhatt S, WilliamWint G, Khan K, Bogoch I, Kraemer M, Lourenço J, Baxter C, Tagliamonte M, Salemi M, Lessells R, Mitambo C, Chitatanga R, Bitilinyu-Bango J, Chiwaula M, Chavula Y, Bukhu M, Manda H, Chitenje M, Malolo I, Mwanyongo A, Mvula B, Nyenje M, de Oliveira T, Kagoli M, Emerging Infectious Diseases (2025), 31(6):. doi: 10.3201/eid3106.240930.:.
Importance of outbreak response research in bridging knowledge gaps on emerging infectious diseases.
Breiman R, Osoro E, Reithinger R, Wang D, Diamond M, Van Voorhis W, Wasserheit J, Rabinowitz P, Mboup S, Hemingway-Foday J, de Oliveira T, Boon A, Schieffelin J, Sempowski G, Moody M, Vasilakis N, Hanley K, Nasimiyu C, Situma S, Ngere I, Kyobe Bosa H, Nyakarahuka L, Bakamutumaho B, Woodson S, Njenga M, BMJ Global Health (2025), 10(6):e018297. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-018297.:.
Artificial intelligence for modelling infectious disease epidemics.
Kraemer M, Tsui J, Chang S, Lytras S, Khurana M, Vanderslott S, Bajaj S, Scheidwasser N, Curran-Sebastian J, Semenova E, Zhang M, Unwin H, Watson O, Mills C, Dasgupta A, Ferretti L, Scarpino S, Koua E, Morgan O, Tegally H, Paquet U, Moutsianas L, Fraser C, Ferguson N, Topol E, Duchêne D, Stadler T, Kingori P, Parker M, Dominici F, Shadbolt N, Suchard M, Ratmann O, Flaxman S, Holmes E, Gomez-Rodriguez M, Schölkopf B, Donnelly C, Pybus O, Cauchemez S, Bhatt S, Nature (2025), 638(8051):623-635. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08564-w.:.
Spatiotemporal disease suitability prediction for Oropouche virus and the role of vectors across the Americas.
Poongavanan J, Dunaiski M, Dor G, Kraemer M, Giovanetti M, Lim A, Brady O, Baxter C, Fonseca V, Alcantara L, de Oliveira T, Tegally H, medRxiv (2025), doi: 10.1101/2025.02.28.25323068.:.
Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 intrahost genetic evolution in vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients from the Kenyan population.
Lugano D, Mwangi K, Mware B, Kibet G, Osiany S, Kiritu E, Dobi P, Muli C, Njeru R, de Oliveira T, Njenga M, Routh A, Oyola S, medRxiv (2025), doi: 10.1101/2025.03.03.25323296.:.
Unveiling novel features and phylogenomic assessment of indigenous
Priestia megaterium
AB-S79 using comparative genomics.
Adeniji A, Chukwuneme C, Conceição E, Ayangbenro A, Wilkinson E, Maasdorp E, de Oliveira T, Babalola O, Microbiology Spectrum (2025), doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01466-24.:.
COVID-19 | News sub-variant being monitored closely
By: Tulio De Oliveira and CERI and KRISP teams
Genome Detective Coronavirus Typing Tool
Genome Detective Coronavirus Typing Tool for rapid identification and characterization of novel coronavirus genomes
Genome Detective Dengue Virus Typing Tool
This is a beta version of our Dengue Virus Typing tool. For the mean time, this tool should be used for evaluation only. Please send feedback to Tulio de Oliveira.
Genome Detective Zika Typing Tool
This is the first version of the Zika typing tool, which uses phylogenetic analysis to identify the species and genotype of the virus.
Genome Detective Chikungunya Typing Tool
This is the first version of the Chikungunya typing tool, which uses phylogenetic analysis to identify the species and genotype of the virus.
Genome Detective Yellow Fever Virus Typing Tool
This is the first version of the Yellow Fever typing tool, which uses phylogenetic analysis to identify the species and genotype of the virus.
This is the first version of our Arbovirus typing tool for Chikungunya, Dengue, Yellow Fever and Zika
REGA HIV Subtyping Tool V3 - Belgium Mirror
Phylogenetic tool to identify the HIV-1 subtypes and recombinants. Query sequences are analysed for recombination using bootscanning methods. The version 3 contains new CRFs (CRF01_AE to CRF47_BF).
KRISP has been created by the coordinated effort of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the South African Medical Research Countil (SAMRC).
Location: K-RITH Tower Building
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN
719 Umbilo Road, Durban, South Africa.
Director: Prof. Tulio de Oliveira