COVID-19: New Variant Mu Surfaces, WHO Monitors

Apart from the Delta variant of the deadly COVID-19, a new strain, named Mu, has been discovered and has been designated a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation WHO for monitoring.

The World Health Organisation WHO’s announced this to the world in its weekly bulletin on the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing that Mu, or B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia and cases have been recorded in South America and Europe.COVID-19: New Variant Mu Surfaces, WHO MonitorsThe health organisation said the variant has mutations suggesting it could be more resistant to vaccines, as was the case with Beta, but that more studies would be needed to examine this further. “Based on the latest round of assessments, B.1.621 was classified as a VOI on 30 August 2021 and given the WHO label “Mu”. This includes the descendent Pango lineage B.1.621.1. This variant is known as 21H in Nextstrain nomenclature”
Read also: FG To Sanction Nigerians Refusing COVID-19 Vaccination
“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape. Preliminary data presented to the Virus Evolution Working Group show a reduction in neutralisation capacity of convalescent and vaccinee sera similar to that seen for the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies. Since its first identification in Colombia in January 2021, there have been a few sporadic reports of cases of the Mu variant and some larger outbreaks have been reported from other countries in South America and in Europe.”COVID-19: New Variant Mu Surfaces, WHO Monitors“Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1 per cent, the prevalence in Colombia (39 per cent) and Ecuador (13 per cent) has consistently increased. The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes. As of 29 August, over 4500 sequences (3794 sequences of B.1.621 and 856 sequences of B.1.621.1) have been uploaded to GISAID from 39 countries”, the bulletin added.
Read also: COVID-19 Survival Fund: We’ve Disbursed Over N56bn To More Than 1m Nigerians – FG
There are currently four Coronavirus variants – the Alpha variant first recorded in Kent seen in 193 countries, Beta in 141, Gamma in 91 and Delta in 170 countries, while Mu is the fifth variant of interest.COVID-19: New Variant Mu Surfaces, WHO MonitorsTRENDING VIDEO OF THE DAY: Fulani Herdsmen Are Sponsored, I Know It – Bishop Oyedepo Photos Credit: Getty

Leave a Reply