Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Strains in Senegal: From a Wild Wuhan Strain to the Omicron Variant
, Abdou Padane 1,2,*, Cyrille Kouligueul Diédhiou 1, Samba Ndiour 1, Ndéye Diabou Diagne 1, Aminata Mboup 1, Moustapha Mbow 1, Cheikh Ibrahima Lo 2, Nafissatou Leye 1, Aissatou Sow Ndoye 1, Anna Julienne Selbé Ndiaye 1, Seyni Ndiaye 1, Gora Lo 1, Djibril Wade 1, Ambroise Ahouidi 1, Papa Alassane Diaw 1, Marièma Sarr 2, Mamadou Beye 2, Badara Cissé 1, Cheikh Sokhna 2,3, add
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Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Abstract: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by coronavirus 2 and causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). Coronavirus 2019 is a disease??? .... caused by coronavirus 2??? It is a wrong sentence....Also change the first sentence of the introduction.
The B.1.617.2 variant 43 (Delta), which has been shown to be more transmissible [9], dominates the third wave. Is it true?
To confirm this hypothesis, we set ourselves......which hypothesis?
Some sentences in abstract and introduction are same. Improve the introduction.
Improve English in the manuscript.
COVID-19 or Covid-19.....make it uniform.
Use proper symbols.
Modify the conclusion part as per your findings.
References are not as per journal format.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This is a very nice paper. It describes the influence of variants of SARS-CoV-2 on it spread in Senegal and tries to understand contact networks (figure 6 is remarkable to disclose these relationships). I have only minor comments:
I not understand reference 17: is this a mistake? Probably, it took the place of a citation about spike protein. Otherwise, could you explain why it is pertinent here.
Line 37 and further in the introduction: what do you mean with “third phase”. Is it different from “wave”? On figure 4, we see that we are beyond the fourth phase. Therefore, I do not understand this statement. Please clarify.
Lines 84-85: “Reverse transcriptase of ARN were performed …” should be “Reverse transcriptase of RNA was performed …”
Finally, I think that the conclusion should be somewhat rewritten: I suggest to repeat that “the speed of spread increases from wave to wave when variants evolve over time. And the formulation of the “next steps” should be more fluent (not under the form of points separated by new paragraphs.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This paper describes the phylodynamics of the COVID pandemic in Senegal. The authors are from Senegalese research institutions. It is important for Senegalese scientists to shepherd and report on data from Senegalese citizens. The data and results in this paper are of value in understanding COVID globally as well as in guiding current and future public health responses in Senegal.
However, it cannot be published in its current form. The English is abysmal. Please have a native English speaker carefully review it before resubmitting it. Also, I recommend pasting the text into Google Docs. It can automatically find many spelling and grammar errors. I mention many English issues in my comments, but I was so overwhelmed I stopped commenting on may of the others.
Specific comments in attached file.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Thank you for your revision.
Reviewer 3 Report
My concerns have been addressed. Recommend acceptance. Bien fait.
