The Alpha Variant (B.1.1.7) of SARS-CoV-2 Failed to Become Dominant in Mexico
Selene Zárate, Blanca Taboada, José Esteban Muñoz‐Medina, Pavel Iša, Alejandro Sánchez‐Flores, Célia Boukadida, Alfredo Herrera‐Estrella, Nelly Sélem‐Mójica, Mauricio Rosales-Rivera, Bruno Gómez‐Gil, Ángel Gustavo Salas-Lais, Clara Esperanza Santacruz-Tinoco, Héctor Montoya-Fuentes, Julio Elías Alvarado-Yaah, Gloria María Molina‐Salinas, Gloria Elena Espinoza-Ayala, José Antonio Enciso‐Moreno, Rosa-María Gutiérrez-Ríos, Antonio Loza, Joaquín Moreno-Contreras, Rodrigo García-López, Xaira Rivera-Gutiérrez, Andreu Comas‐García, Rosa María Wong‐Chew, María Eugenia Jiménez-Corona, Rosa María del Angel, Joel Armando Vázquez-Pérez, Margarita Matías‐Florentino, Marissa Pérez‐García, Santiago Ávila‐Ríos, Hugo G. Castelán‐Sánchez, Luis Delaye, León P. Martínez‐Castilla, Marina Escalera‐Zamudio, Susana López, Carlos F. Arias
Abstract
The emergence and rapid increase of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout the world were due to its increased transmissibility. However, it did not displace cocirculating lineages in most of Mexico, particularly B.1.1.519, which dominated the country from February to May 2021. In this work, we analyzed the distribution of B.1.1.7 in Mexico using phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses. Our results show that the states with the highest prevalence of B.1.1.7 (around 30%) were those at the Mexico-U.S. border, which also exhibited the highest lineage diversity, indicating possible introduction events from the United States. Also, several haplotypes were identified with a localized distribution and specific mutations, indicating that sustained community transmission occurred in the country.