Souris Marc auteur aut IRD Tshilolo L. auteur aut IRD Parzy D. auteur aut IRD Ingoba L. L. auteur aut IRD Ntoumi F. auteur aut IRD Kamgaing R. auteur aut IRD Ndour M. auteur aut IRD Mbongi D. auteur aut IRD Phoba B. auteur aut IRD Tshilolo M. A. auteur aut IRD Mbungu R. auteur aut IRD Sosso M. S. auteur aut IRD Fainguem N. auteur aut IRD Dieye T. N. auteur aut IRD Sylla M. auteur aut IRD Morand Pierre auteur aut IRD Gonzalez J. P. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access For more than two years after the emergence of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019), significant regional differences in morbidity persist. These differences clearly show lower incidence rates in several regions of the African and Asian continents. The work reported here aimed to test the hypothesis of a pre-pandemic natural immunity acquired by some human populations in central and western Africa, which would, therefore, pose the hypothesis of an original antigenic sin with a virus antigenically close to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To identify such pre-existing immunity, sera samples collected before the emergence of COVID-19 were tested to detect the presence of IgG reacting antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 proteins of major significance. Sera samples from French blood donors collected before the pandemic served as a control. The results showed a statistically significant difference of antibodies prevalence between the collected samples in Africa and the control samples collected in France. Given the novelty of our results, our next step consists in highlighting neutralizing antibodies to evaluate their potential for pre-pandemic protective acquired immunity against SARS-CoV-2. In conclusion, our results suggest that, in the investigated African sub-regions, the tested populations could have been potentially and partially pre-exposed, before the COVID-19 pandemic, to the antigens of a yet non-identified Coronaviruses. specialized SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 CoviDiag natural immunity original antigenic sin Africa CONGO CAMEROUN SENEGAL 052 050 14 10 2259 [11 ] 2022 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010086402 10.3390/v14102259 [F B010086402] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010086402 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2022-12/010086402.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2022-12-09 2025-02-24 fdi:010086402 fre