title: Evolution and Spread of Ebola Virus in Liberia, 2014-2015.
abstract: The 2013-present Western African Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is the largest ever recorded with >28,000 reported cases. Ebola virus (EBOV) genome sequencing has played an important role throughout this outbreak; however, relatively few sequences have been determined from patients in Liberia, the second worst-affected country. Here, we report 140 EBOV genome sequences from the second wave of the Liberian outbreak and analyze them in combination with 782 previously published sequences from throughout the Western African outbreak. While multiple early introductions of EBOV to Liberia are evident, the majority of Liberian EVD cases are consistent with a single introduction, followed by spread and diversification within the country. Movement of the virus within Liberia was widespread, and reintroductions from Liberia served as an important source for the continuation of the already ongoing EVD outbreak in Guinea. Overall, little evidence was found for incremental adaptation of EBOV to the human host.
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA. Electronic address: jason.t.ladner.ctr@mail.mil.
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ladner
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Wiley
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mate
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.
authors.forename: Gytis
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dudas
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lovett
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Elyse R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Nagle
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beitzel
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Translational Sciences Division, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Merle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Liberian Institute for Biomedical Research, Charlesville, Liberia.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fakoli
authors.affiliation: Naval Medical Research Unit 3, 3A Imtidad Ramses Street, Cairo, Egypt 11517.
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Diclaro
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Systems Division, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Randal J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schoepp
authors.affiliation: MRI Global, 1330 Piccard Avenue, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA; The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fair
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, B-8200 Research Plaza, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Jens H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, B-8200 Research Plaza, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Hensley
authors.affiliation: Broad Institute, 75 Ames St, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Broad Institute, 75 Ames St, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA; Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Pardis C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Sabeti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK; Centre for Immunology, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK; Fogarty International Center, NIH, 31 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rambaut
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Lockhart
authors.affiliation: Liberian Institute for Biomedical Research, Charlesville, Liberia.
authors.forename: Fatorma K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Bolay
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kugelman
authors.affiliation: Center for Genome Sciences, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA. Electronic address: gustavo.f.palacios.ctr@mail.mil.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palacios
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007988:Liberia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology