Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak.

Science
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

In its largest outbreak, Ebola virus disease is spreading through Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. We sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes from 78 patients in Sierra Leone to ~2000× coverage. We observed a rapid accumulation of interhost and intrahost genetic variation, allowing us to characterize patterns of viral transmission over the initial weeks of the epidemic. This West African variant likely diverged from central African lineages around 2004, crossed from Guinea to Sierra Leone in May 2014, and has exhibited sustained human-to-human transmission subsequently, with no evidence of additional zoonotic sources. Because many of the mutations alter protein sequences and other biologically meaningful targets, they should be monitored for impact on diagnostics, vaccines, and therapies critical to outbreak response.

Year of Publication
2014
Journal
Science
Volume
345
Issue
6202
Pages
1369-72
Date Published
2014 Sep 12
ISSN
1095-9203
URL
DOI
10.1126/science.1259657
PubMed ID
25214632
PubMed Central ID
PMC4431643
Links
Grant list
U19 AI115589 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
1U01HG007480-01 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
1DP2OD006514-01 / OD / NIH HHS / United States
U01 HG007480 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
T32 GM080177 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
GM080177 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
095831 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
HHSN272200900049C / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
260864 / European Research Council / International
DP2 OD006514 / OD / NIH HHS / United States
U19 AI110818 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
HHSN272200900049C / PHS HHS / United States