The main objective of this research is to identify and characterize the different molecular variants of SARS-CoV-2, emerging and / or circulating in several countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, Chad and Republic of Congo) and determine their role in the evolution of the pandemic.
The research will combine retrospective and prospective approaches to determine the evolutionary dynamics of the virus since the start of the pandemic. It is planned to sequence the entire Spike protein gene for 1550 viruses and make 300 entire genomes. This work will be supplemented by antibody seroneutralization and respiratory transcriptomics tests, in order to estimate the immuno-virological response of the COVID-19 disease associated with the identified SARS-CoV-2 variants.
