ABSTRACT
The vegetation loss in the Brazil's Legal Amazon (BLA) in 2020 corresponds to the highest loss observed in a decade, caused by the intensification of fires, mineral extraction activities, and other pressures. The possibility of earning from illegal activities such as deforestation and mining attracts the population to indigenous territories, while fires aggravate respiratory problems and enhance the current COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, the BLA's road network is usually related to increased deforestation and fires in its areas of influence, and airports are known to contribute to spreading COVID-19 infections worldwide. Therefore, we decided to evaluate the effect of characteristics of Special Indigenous Health Districts (DSEIs) (including population, number of airports, and extent of the road network) and vegetation loss rates (deforestation, and area of vegetation lost by fires and mining) on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among the indigenous population in DSEIs in the BLA. We observed a positive correlation between the number of cases and deaths and the number of Indigenous Primary Healthcare Units, suggesting that many of these units did not increase appropriate activities for prevention and protection from COVID-19 in the DSEIs. The DSEIs with larger air transport and road networks were more affected by COVID-19. These networks constituted critical mechanisms for facilitating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the BLA. Additionally, we noted that changes that impact the landscape of DSEIs, such as fires and mining, also impact legal indigenous areas (IAs). Thus, IAs are not spared from exploratory processes in the district's landscape. Models that associate the air transport and road networks with the transformation of the landscape in IAs from burning or mining can explain the number of indigenous people who died due to COVID-19. These results are particularly important given the current disruptive scenario imposed by the Brazilian government on critical institutions that detect and fight fires in indigenous lands and the policies enacted to combat COVID-19 in Brazil, which are based on denying isolation measures and delaying vaccinations.
ABSTRACT
The vegetation loss in the Brazil's Legal Amazon (BLA) in 2020 corresponds to the highest loss observed in a decade, caused by the intensification of fires, mineral extraction activities, and other pressures. The possibility of earning from illegal activities such as deforestation and mining attracts the population to indigenous territories, while fires aggravate respiratory problems and enhance the current COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, the BLA's road network is usually related to increased deforestation and fires in its areas of influence, and airports are known to contribute to spreading COVID-19 infections worldwide. Therefore, we decided to evaluate the effect of characteristics of Special Indigenous Health Districts (DSEIs) (including population, number of airports, and extent of the road network) and vegetation loss rates (deforestation, and area of vegetation lost by fires and mining) on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among the indigenous population in DSEIs in the BLA. We observed a positive correlation between the number of cases and deaths and the number of Indigenous Primary Healthcare Units, suggesting that many of these units did not increase appropriate activities for prevention and protection from COVID-19 in the DSEIs. The DSEIs with larger air transport and road networks were more affected by COVID-19. These networks constituted critical mechanisms for facilitating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the BLA. Additionally, we noted that changes that impact the landscape of DSEIs, such as fires and mining, also impact legal indigenous areas (IAs). Thus, IAs are not spared from exploratory processes in the district's landscape. Models that associate the air transport and road networks with the transformation of the landscape in IAs from burning or mining can explain the number of indigenous people who died due to COVID-19. These results are particularly important given the current disruptive scenario imposed by the Brazilian government on critical institutions that detect and fight fires in indigenous lands and the policies enacted to combat COVID-19 in Brazil, which are based on denying isolation measures and delaying vaccinations.
ABSTRACT
Tocantins is a state in the cross-section between the Central-West, North and Northeast regions of Brazilian territory; it is a gathering point for travelers and transportation from the whole country. In this study, 9493 genome sequences, including 241 local SARS-CoV-2 samples (collected from 21 December 2020, to 16 December 2021, and sequenced in the MinION platform) were analyzed with the following aims: (i) identify the relative prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the state of Tocantins; (ii) analyze them phylogenetically against global SARS-CoV-2 sequences; and (iii) hypothesize the viral dispersal routes of the two most abundant lineages found in our study using phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches. The performed analysis demonstrated that the majority of the strains sequenced during the period belong to the Gamma P.1.7 (32.4%) lineage, followed by Delta AY.99.2 (27.8%), with the first detection of VOC Omicron. As expected, there was mainly a dispersion of P.1.7 from the state of São Paulo to Tocantins, with evidence of secondary spreads from Tocantins to Goiás, Mato Grosso, Amapá, and Pará. Rio de Janeiro was found to be the source of AY.99.2 and from then, multiple cluster transmission was observed across Brazilian states, especially São Paulo, Paraiba, Federal District, and Tocantins. These data show the importance of trade routes as pathways for the transportation of the virus from Southeast to Northern Brazil.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Brazil/epidemiology , COVID-19/epidemiology , Genomics , Humans , Phylogeny , SARS-CoV-2/geneticsABSTRACT
Tocantins is a state in the cross-section between the Central-West, North and Northeast regions of Brazilian territory;it is a gathering point for travelers and transportation from the whole country. In this study, 9493 genome sequences, including 241 local SARS-CoV-2 samples (collected from 21 December 2020, to 16 December 2021, and sequenced in the MinION platform) were analyzed with the following aims: (i) identify the relative prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the state of Tocantins;(ii) analyze them phylogenetically against global SARS-CoV-2 sequences;and (iii) hypothesize the viral dispersal routes of the two most abundant lineages found in our study using phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches. The performed analysis demonstrated that the majority of the strains sequenced during the period belong to the Gamma P.1.7 (32.4%) lineage, followed by Delta AY.99.2 (27.8%), with the first detection of VOC Omicron. As expected, there was mainly a dispersion of P.1.7 from the state of São Paulo to Tocantins, with evidence of secondary spreads from Tocantins to Goiás, Mato Grosso, Amapá, and Pará. Rio de Janeiro was found to be the source of AY.99.2 and from then, multiple cluster transmission was observed across Brazilian states, especially São Paulo, Paraiba, Federal District, and Tocantins. These data show the importance of trade routes as pathways for the transportation of the virus from Southeast to Northern Brazil.
ABSTRACT
Brazil was considered one of the emerging epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, experiencing over 3000 daily deaths caused by the virus at the peak of the second wave. In total, the country had more than 20.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including over 582,764 fatalities. A set of emerging variants arose in the country, some of them posing new challenges for COVID-19 control. The goal of this study was to describe mutational events across samples from Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 sequences publicly obtainable on Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data-EpiCoV (GISAID-EpiCoV) platform and to generate indexes of new mutations by each genome. A total of 16,953 SARS-CoV-2 genomes were obtained, which were not proportionally representative of the five Brazilian geographical regions. A comparative sequence analysis was conducted to identify common mutations located at 42 positions of the genome (38 were in coding regions, whereas two were in 5' and two in 3' UTR). Moreover, 11 were synonymous variants, 27 were missense variants, and more than 44.4% were located in the spike gene. Across the total of single nucleotide variations (SNVs) identified, 32 were found in genomes obtained from all five Brazilian regions. While a high genomic diversity has been reported in Europe given the large number of sequenced genomes, Africa has demonstrated high potential for new variants. In South America, Brazil, and Chile, rates have been similar to those found in South Africa and India, providing enough "space" for new mutations to arise. Genomic surveillance is the central key to identifying the emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil and has shown that the country is one of the "hotspots" in the generation of new variants.