WHO Warns New COVID-19 Variant 'Mu' May be Vaccine Resistant

Multiple mutations hint that the Mu variant could possibly resist immune defenses and even have a rapid transmission than other variants. The World Health Organization (WHO) is keeping an eye on the appearance of the Mu variant, a new variant of the nCoV - novel coronavirus - which has already started spreading through South America.

This new variant has revealed some signs which could possibly mean it is resistant to vaccines. It was initially identified in January 2021 in Colombia, the Mu variant has seen occasional cases surface all over South America and Europe. Internationally, the variant is responsible for lower than 0.1% of all cases all over the world.

However, the WHO has taken note that the new variant is now more widespread in Colombia and Ecuador, where it is responsible for about 39% and 13% of separate cases.

Also Read: C.1.2: New COVID-19 Variant Discovered in South Africa 'Worse' Than Delta

Variant of Interest 

More research is required to precisely confirm if this new variant, designated as VUI-21JUL-01 and B.1.621, could be in any way resistant to vaccines.

The WHO is still keeping an eye on it as a "Variant of Interest," since there are more mutations and two were given the designations E484K and K417N, indicating it could resist immune defenses in almost the same manner as the Beta variant discovered in South Africa.

So far, the Mu variant has been discovered in about 40 countries, including the US, Hong Kong, UK, and Europe, and could possibly spread to more countries.

Japan's Health Ministry verified on Thursday that two Mu variant cases were identified in the country when airport screenings were conducted in June and July, the former was an arrival from the UAE and the latter arrived from the UK, and both were asymptomatic, the Japan Times made this report.

As per The Guardian, about 32 residents in the UK have been identified to have the Mu variant and the infection pattern is hinting that people coming into the country had brought it along with them.

(Photo : Getty Images)

C.1.2  

There are other new variants causing concerns and not just Mu.

Recently, researchers detected another variant in South Africa and several other countries, it is identified as C.1.2 and there are concerns this variant could possibly be very infectious and not respond to vaccines, as per a new preprint study by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform awaiting peer review.

Scientists initially identified C.1.2 in May 2021, they discovered that it came from C.1 and this was surprising to them since C.1 was last detected in January.  Compared to C.1, the new variant has mutated to a great extent and is more mutations away from the actual virus discovered in Wuhan than almost any other variant.

While initially detected in South Africa, C.1.2 has since been discovered in China, Portugal, England, New Zealand, Mauritius, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Switzerland.

Related Article: Delta Variant: Deadlier COVID Strain is 60% More Contagious Than Original Virus

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