On November 19, 2020, health workers administered free Covid-19 tests to people in the car in the parking lot of the Columbus West Family Health and Wellness Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Stephen Zenner | AFP | Getty Images
Ohio researchers said Wednesday they discovered two new coronavirus variants that probably originated in the United States, one of which quickly became the dominant strain in Columbus, Ohio over a three-week period in late December. in January.
Like the strain first detected in the UK, US mutations appear to make Covid-19 more contagious, but do not appear to decrease the effectiveness of the vaccine, the researchers said.
Researchers at Ohio State University have not yet published their full findings, but said a peer-reviewed study will be ready. Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement to CNBC that the agency is studying the new investigation.
One of the new strains, found in a single patient in Ohio, contains a mutation identical to the now dominant variant in the UK, the researchers said, noting that “it probably arose in a virus strain already present in the United States. United States”. However, the “Columbus strain,” which researchers said in a press release has become dominant in the city, includes “three other genetic mutations that were not previously seen together in SARS-CoV2.”
“This new Columbus strain has the same genetic backbone as the previous cases we studied, but these three mutations represent a significant evolution,” said Dr. Dan Jones, vice president of the state’s molecular pathology division. Ohio, in a statement. “We know that this change does not come from the virus branches in the UK or South Africa.”
The mutation found in the new dominant strain in Columbus (COH.20G / 501Y) “may be occurring independently in various parts of the world in recent months,” the researchers said.
Peter Mohler, scientific director of Ohio Medical Wexner Medical Center and co-author of the upcoming study, said there are no data indicating that the new strain affects vaccine effectiveness.
“It is important that we do not overreact to this new variant until we obtain additional data,” it said in a statement. “We need to understand the impact of mutations on virus transmission, the prevalence of the strain on the population and whether it has a more significant impact on human health.
Ohio researchers will hold a press conference on its discovery at 11 a.m. ET.
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