If the United States ignores COVID-19 in Nigeria, we forgo global genomic surveillance at our own peril, reports a new study.

The study found global efforts to track variants grossly underreported a probable variant of concern, eta, circulating in Nigeria in early 2021. This was followed by the circulation of a rare delta sublineage in the region that was different from the delta variant that circulated in most other parts of the globe.

«Nigeria is the seventh-most populated country on the planet, but there was very little viral sequencing data available from Nigeria until we started this study,» said co-corresponding study author Judd Hultquist. «The concern in having these gaps in surveillance is there may be new variants popping up in places across the globe we are not seeing. We do not want to be caught unprepared if all of a sudden a new variant with unique properties emerges onto the world stage.»

Hultquist is associate director of the Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also is an assistant professor of medicine in infectious diseases at Feinberg.

«This study demonstrates the critical need for international cooperation in infectious disease surveillance in undersampled regions for the monitoring and ‘early-warning’ detection of new SARS-CoV-2 variants with concerning potential,» said Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo, co-corresponding study author.

Lorenzo-Redondo is an assistant professor of medicine and the bioinformatics director of the Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution at Feinberg.

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Materials provided by Northwestern University. Original written by Marla Paul. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.