{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T06:27:56Z","timestamp":1786343276122,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":10,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Epidemiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The prevalence and distribution of endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in Ghana remain poorly characterized, particularly in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. We conducted a cross-sectional molecular and serological survey of 1,000 individuals from five rural and five urban communities in Ghana to assess the prevalence of HCoVs. Reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) assays targeted SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-229E, while serological assays evaluated IgG antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-229E Spike proteins. A broad pan-coronavirus RT-qPCR assay detected HCoV RNA in 6.7% of participants, with SARS-CoV-2 as the most frequent, followed by HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, and HCoV-OC43; HCoV-NL63 was not detected. Serological analyses revealed widespread exposure to SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, and HCoV-HKU1, with a low seroprevalence for HCoV-NL63. Our findings demonstrate ongoing co-circulation of multiple HCoVs in both rural and urban settings in Ghana post Covid-19, suggesting sustained community transmission, increased potential for co-infection, and the need for continued surveillance of endemic and emerging respiratory viruses. The data provides rare insights into the epidemiology of HCoVs in West Africa.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fepid.2026.1874054","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T05:30:39Z","timestamp":1786339839000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["High prevalence of human coronaviruses in rural and urban Ghana in the post-COVID-19 era"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Elvis Suatey","family":"Lomotey","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana","place":["Legon, Accra, Ghana"]},{"name":"West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana","place":["Legon, Accra, Ghana"]},{"name":"Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of 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Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Florence Biamah","family":"Amakye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana","place":["Legon, Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph Annan","family":"Hayford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana","place":["Legon, Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bernard Aniakwo","family":"Logonia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana","place":["Legon, Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katharina","family":"R\u00f6ltgen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of 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