Ebola virus genomes sequenced

"Responding rapidly to the deadly outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, a team of researchers from the Broad Institute and Harvard University, working with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation and researchers elsewhere, has sequenced and analyzed many Ebola virus genomes. Their findings could have important implications for rapid field diagnostic tests.
The researchers hope their results will speed up scientific understanding of the epidemic and assist global efforts to contain it.
The researchers sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes collected from 78 Ebola patients in Sierra Leone during the first 24 days of the outbreak. (Some patients contributed samples more than once, allowing researchers a clearer view into how the virus can change in a single individual over the course of infection.) The team found more than 300 genetic changes that make the 2014 Ebola virus genomes distinct from the viral genomes tied to previous outbreaks. They also found sequence variations indicating that the present outbreak started from a single introduction into humans, subsequently spreading from person to person over many months.
The variations they identified were frequently in parts of the genome that encode proteins. Some of the variation detected may affect the primers, or starting points for DNA synthesis, used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic tests, emphasizing the importance of genomic surveillance and the need for vigilance. The researchers reported their results online today in the journal Science.

“By making the data immediately available to the community, we hope to accelerate response efforts,” said co-senior author Pardis Sabeti, a senior associate member at the Broad Institute and an associate professor at Harvard University". File photo Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer