As the Omicron variant continues to surge across the globe, becoming even more dominant than the Delta variant, there is news that France discovered another variant. This one has forty-six (46) mutations, which is reportedly more than the Omicron variant.
The variant, called B.1.640.2, was dubbed the "IHU variant" by researchers at the Méditerranée Infection University Hospital Institute (IHU) in Marseilles, France, who first identified the variant in November 2021. According to a study in December 2021, that is not yet peer-reviewed, the researchers confirmed twelve (12) patients tested positive for the variant, which contained mutations that also appeared in other fast-spreading variants. While the new variant was discovered around the same time as Omicron, the B.1.640.2 variant has not been detected anywhere outside the Southern Alps region of France. A virologist from the Imperial College in London noted on Twitter that the IHU variant predates the Omicron variant. The findings of the IHU researchers have not yet been peer-reviewed, which means other scientists have yet to look over the work that has been done.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has so far connected the positive cases back to the African country of Cameroon. The WHO has yet to name the new strain a variant of interest or concern but it is currently being investigated. WHO said the B.1.640.2 variant "has been on our radar." At a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday (4th January 2022), Incident Manager for the WHO's COVID-19 Incident Management Support Team, Abdi Mahamud, said, “That virus had a lot of chances to pick up.”
Health experts are expecting more variants to appear as COVID-19 cases continue to rise globally, but doubt they will gain traction. Ultimately, experts do not believe the IHU variant is a significant enough threat to warrant panicking about at this time.
This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.
[Source: Complex]
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