Genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone

Abstract

The genome sequences of 175 Ebola virus from five districts in Sierra Leone, collected during September–November 2014, show that the rate of virus evolution seems to be similar to that observed during previous outbreaks and that the genetic diversity of the virus has increased substantially, with the emergence of several novel lineages. Wu-Chun Cao and colleagues report on how EBOV, the Ebola virus responsible for the ongoing epidemic in West Africa, has evolved. The authors describe 175 EBOV full-length genome sequences from five districts in Sierra Leone, collected between 28 September and 11 November 2014. They find a rate of virus evolution similar to that observed during previous EBOV outbreaks. The genetic diversity of the virus has increased substantially, with the emergence of several novel lineages. The sharp increase in genetic diversity underlines the importance of EBOV surveillance in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. A novel Ebola virus (EBOV) first identified in March 2014 has infected more than 25,000 people in West Africa, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths1,2. Preliminary analyses of genome sequences of 81 EBOV collected from March to June 2014 from Guinea and Sierra Leone suggest that the 2014 EBOV originated from an independent transmission event from its natural reservoir3 followed by sustained human-to-human infections4. It has been reported that the EBOV genome variation might have an effect on the efficacy of sequence-based virus detection and candidate therapeutics5,6. However, only limited viral information has been available since July 2014, when the outbreak entered a rapid growth phase7. Here we describe 175 full-length EBOV genome sequences from five severely stricken districts in Sierra Leone from 28 September to 11 November 2014. We found that the 2014 EBOV has become more phylogenetically and genetically diverse from July to November 2014, characterized by the emergence of multiple novel lineages. The substitution rate for the 2014 EBOV was estimated to be 1.23 × 10−3 substitutions per site per year (95% highest posterior density interval, 1.04 × 10−3 to 1.41 × 10−3 substitutions per site per year), approximating to that observed between previous EBOV outbreaks. The sharp increase in genetic diversity of the 2014 EBOV warrants extensive EBOV surveillance in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia to better understand the viral evolution and transmission dynamics of the ongoing outbreak. These data will facilitate the international efforts to develop vaccines and therapeutics.