Reduced evolutionary rate in reemerged Ebola virus transmission chains.
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Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27386513.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.1600378 and PMC identifier 4928956.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
On 29 June 2015, Liberia's respite from Ebola virus disease (EVD) was interrupted for the second time by a renewed outbreak ("flare-up") of seven confirmed cases. We demonstrate that, similar to the March 2015 flare-up associated with sexual transmission, this new flare-up was a reemergence of a Liberian transmission chain originating from a persistently infected source rather than a reintroduction from a reservoir or a neighboring country with active transmission. Although distinct, Ebola virus (EBOV) genomes from both flare-ups exhibit significantly low genetic divergence, indicating a reduced rate of EBOV evolution during persistent infection. Using this rate of change as a signature, we identified two additional EVD clusters that possibly arose from persistently infected sources. These findings highlight the risk of EVD flare-ups even after an outbreak is declared over.
Medical subject headings
- Ebolavirus
- Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola