Mu, or B.1.621, was first identified in
Colombia and cases have since been recorded in 38 other countries,
predominantly in South America and Europe.
"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," a weekly epidemiological update
released by WHO on August 31 read.
Over 4,500 sequences (3794 sequences of
B.1.621 and 856 sequences of B.1.621.1) have been recorded in 39 countries as
of August 29, the report said, citing information uploaded to the GISAID
Initiative, a global science initiative that provides open-access to genomic
data of influenza viruses.
Although the global prevalence of the Mu
variant has declined and is "currently below 0.1 percent" the
prevalence in Colombia (39 percent) and Ecuador (13 percent) has
"consistently increased," the report reads.
The health body also notes that the variant
"has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of
immune escape," adding that more studies are needed to understand the
phenotypic and clinical characteristics of the variant.
"The epidemiology of the Mu variant in
South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will
be monitored for changes," the report notes.
The variant is listed as one of five
"of interest" by the WHO, including Eta, Iota, Kappa and Lambda.
Four other variants "of concern"
and considered as having potential to make the pandemic worse are listed as the
Alpha variant (first recorded in England and seen in 193 countries), the Beta
variant (now seen in 141 countries), Gamma in 91 and Delta in 170 countries.
There are currently more cases of the Mu
variant recorded in the U.S. (2,065) than any other country, according to a
country submission count tabulated by GISAID. This figure is followed by 852
cases recorded in Colombia and 473 in Spain.
Another variant of COVID-19, known as the
C.1.2, is also causing concern among scientists because it is more
transmissible and resistant to vaccines than other variants of the virus.
A pre-print study that emerged last week
said the variant, which was first detected in South Africa in May, has since
been found in Botswana, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United
Kingdom, Mauritius, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland.
The newly-discovered variant seems to have
an unusually high mutation rate and more mutations of other variants of concern
(VOCs), the study, led by a team of South African scientists, noted.
It also noted that it is more likely to
cause severe COVID-19 than other variants.
BY SAMANTHA LOCK
Newsweek
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