Pre-emptive genomic surveillance of emerging ebolaviruses

Abstract

Genomic surveillance during ebolavirus outbreaks to elucidate transmission chains and develop diagnostic tests is delayed by the laborious development of variant-specific laboratory assays. We developed a new protocol combining 31 parallel PCR assays with Illumina/MinION-based sequencing, allowing generic ebolavirus genomic surveillance, validated using cell culture-derived Ebola, Reston, Sudan and Ta Forest virus at concentrations compatible with patient viral loads. Our approach enables pre-emptive genomic surveillance of ongoing and future ebolavirus outbreaks irrespective of variant divergence.