With viral genome sequencing expanding as a way to contribute to improving public health, more laboratories globally have moved to invest in this area. A leading primary healthcare organisation in Nigeria, EHA Clinics, has successfully sequenced its first set of COVID-19 positive samples using the Oxford Nanopore MinION MK1B technology. The sequence generated from this study led to the identification of the Omicron variant, which was previously reported by the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in December 2021.
“The rapid sequencing and sharing of SARS CoV-2 genomic data will aid the quick identification of variants, tracking of prevalence and distribution as well as determination of a relationship between strains of the virus,” said Dr. Nirmal Ravi, chief innovation officer at EHA Clinics. “This information can help to indicate or rule out routes of transmission, enable identification and investigation of clusters, and guide strategies to control the spread of the virus. It would also impact the formulation of future treatment strategies and vaccine design.”
EHA Clinics is one of the few organisations in Nigeria that have successfully sequenced the SARS-CoV-2 genome and have recorded the 21k Omicron variant. The team, which was led by Dr. Nirmal Ravi, comprised Margaret Alabi, senior molecular scientist, EHA Clinics, consultant molecular geneticist, Dr. Ishaku Lemu Haruna, Gombe State University, and consultant molecular biologist, Dr. Miten Jain, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Sequencing efforts have continued as the virus has spread across the world, resulting in a constantly growing data set of more than 60,000 near-complete viral genomes within the six months following the identification of SARS-CoV-2. Frequently, genomes have been generated within days of case identification and used to understand virus spread during the pandemic (WHO, 2020).
“Through this project, EHA Clinics is more prepared to contribute to the genomic surveillance initiative of WHO and is better equipped to respond to any future epidemic or pandemic in the country and the world at large,” EHA Clinics CEO, Adam Thompson, said.