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Sequencing in the time of Ebola

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 17, page 5 (2019)Cite this article

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This month’s Genome Watch highlights how next-generation sequencing technologies provide crucial information during disease outbreaks and thus inform the public health response.

A recent study reported new findings from the 2014–2016 West African Ebola outbreak on transmission and carriership3. The Liberia Incident Management System identified the source of infection of a confirmed Ebola case in November 2015, and prevented further spread. Combining a thorough epidemiological investigation, serology, detection of virus RNA by reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR) and Illumina MiSeq sequencing, the team’s findings pointed towards long-term persistence of the Ebola virus in a female survivor which resulted in transmission to some of her family members a year later. The incomplete coverage of the Ebola virus genome of some of the samples and the lack of samples from the previous transmission chain limited the inference of directionality of transmission, illustrating the limitations that may arise from challenges in sample gathering, storage and preparation, especially during epidemics.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK

    Sandra Van Puyvelde & Silvia Argimon

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  1. Sandra Van Puyvelde
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  2. Silvia Argimon
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Correspondence to Sandra Van Puyvelde or Silvia Argimon.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Van Puyvelde, S., Argimon, S. Sequencing in the time of Ebola. Nat Rev Microbiol 17, 5 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0130-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0130-0

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