A recent research has indicated that isolated populations of indigenous communities in India, just like the Onge and Jarawa tribes on the Andaman Islands, are under serious threat from COVID-19. Scientists have recommended that the protection of those tribes should tend a high priority. Not doing so could threaten the existence of those indigenous tribes that are living in isolation for tens of thousands of years.
The infection of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has impacted various ethnic groups everywhere the planet. Recent studies suggest that the indigenous groups in Brazil are badly hit by COVID-19.
The death rate among the indigenous communities of Brazil was nearly double the worldwide rate. Many of the indigenous communities are on the verge of extinction because of the pandemic.
India is home to many indigenous and smaller communities including Andaman Islanders.
Recently, Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj from CSIR-CCMB, who is presently Director of CDFD, Hyderabad and Prof Gyaneshwer Chaubey of BHU, Varanasi, jointly led the genomic analysis of several Indian populations.
They found that populations that carry similar long DNA segments (homozygous) in their genome are possibly to be more prone to COVID-19. The research has been published online recently within the journal Genes and Immunity.
Dr Thangaraj, who traced the origin of Andaman Islanders, said, “We have investigated a high-density genomic data of over 1600 individuals from 227 ethnic populations. We found high frequency of contiguous lengths of homozygous genes among Onge, Jarawa (Andaman Tribes) and some more populations who are in isolation and follow a strict endogamy, making them highly susceptible for COVID-19 infection”.
The researchers also found that the Jarawa and Onge populations have a high frequency of ACE2 gene variants. The mutation makes humans more at risk of Covid.
“There are some speculations on the effect of COVID-19 among isolated populations. However, for the primary time, we’ve used genomic data to access the chance of COVID-19 on the tiny and isolated populations”, said Prof Chaubey, Professor of Molecular Anthropology at BHU, Varanasi.
“Results obtained from this study suggest that we want to own a high priority protection and utmost look after the isolated populations, so we do not lose a number of the living treasures of recent human evolution”, said Dr. Vinay Kumar Nandicoori, Director, CCMB, Hyderabad.
