Coronavirus: New Covid strain Mu lands in UK with 55 cases in England so far
A new Covid mutation called Mu has been detected in the UK, as 55 cases have been identified in England so far.
The new strain, which first popped up in South America, has been designated a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to various reports this morning.
Mu, or B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia and cases have been recorded in South America and various European countries, including the UK.
There are currently four coronavirus variants of concern, as deemed by the WHO, with 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.
More resistant to vaccines
The WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic 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.
“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,” the WHO said.
“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%) and Ecuador (13%) 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.”