Department of Biological Sciences, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
Department of Microbiology, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique .
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2021 Dec 31;15(12):1792-1800. doi: 10.3855/jidc.14316.
The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first reported in China in December 2019 and spread worldwide. As of March 6th, 2021, there have been 116,670,105 million confirmed cases globally including 2,592,085 deaths. COVID-19 cases have been reported in 219 countries and territories, creating global panic. Mozambique has witnessed the evolution of COVID-19 epidemic associated with the weakness of health system, mostly in terms of laboratory diagnosis capacity, concerns on compliance to effective public health measures including physical distancing, use of masks in crowded indoor areas, hand hygiene, isolation and quarantine of people.
The data included in this study were collected from published articles regarding COVID-19 imported cases and severity in Africa, especially in Mozambique. Additionally, official documents of COVID-19 epidemiology from Minister of Health and National Institute of Health of Mozambique from 22nd of March 2020 to 1st of August 2020 were included.
The SARS-CoV-2 strains imported mainly from South Africa and European countries might have been playing an important role on COVID-19 epidemic evolution in Mozambique.
These circulating strains in the country, might be similar enough to the strains found in other countries, yet the genomic characterization is needed particularly during the phase of borders reopening through understanding the source of infections and guiding the implementation of containment and mitigation measures in the country.
新型冠状病毒，即严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2），是导致 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的病原体，于 2019 年 12 月在中国首次报告，并在全球范围内传播。截至 2021 年 3 月 6 日，全球已确诊病例达 116670105 例，包括 2592085 例死亡病例。COVID-19 已在 219 个国家和地区报告，引发全球恐慌。莫桑比克经历了与卫生系统薄弱相关的 COVID-19 疫情演变，主要体现在实验室诊断能力方面，对包括保持社交距离、在拥挤的室内区域使用口罩、手部卫生、隔离和检疫等有效公共卫生措施的遵守情况存在担忧。
本研究的数据来自已发表的关于非洲，特别是莫桑比克 COVID-19 输入病例和严重程度的文章。此外，还包括 2020 年 3 月 22 日至 2020 年 8 月 1 日莫桑比克卫生部长和国家卫生研究所发布的 COVID-19 流行病学官方文件。
主要从南非和欧洲国家输入的 SARS-CoV-2 株可能在莫桑比克 COVID-19 疫情演变中发挥了重要作用。
这些在该国流行的株可能与其他国家发现的株足够相似，但需要进行基因组特征分析，特别是在边境重新开放的阶段，以便了解感染源并指导在该国实施控制和缓解措施。
