According to a new study, seven new coronavirus variants have appeared in the United States since last summer, and scientists worry they may be more contagious.
The new variants, each with the name of a bird, were detailed in a 25-page medical study published online Sunday, which has not yet been reviewed in pairs.
The variants are similar in that each mutates the 677th amino acid of the coronavirus, which is at the “tip” that the virus uses to bind to healthy cells, which raises fears that the changes will make them more infectious.
“This stretch of Spike is important for its proximity to a key region for virulence,” said Vaughn Cooper, one of the study’s lead authors and director of the Center for Biology and Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, in CNN.
The mutations have been found by scientists across the country who perform genetic sequencing on positive COVID-19 tests.
They are:
- According to the study, “Robin 1,” which “is found in more than 30 states in the United States, but predominates in the Midwest.” It was first detected in August.
- “Robin 2,” which was first found in a sample collected in early October in Alabama. Consequently, it is more common in the southeast.
- “Pelican,” which was first detected in Oregon in late October. However, it has been found in 12 other states and is the only variant of the seven so far detected abroad, appearing in tests in Australia, Denmark, India and Switzerland.
- “Yellowhammer,” which, like “Robin 2,” is more common in the southeastern United States. It first appeared in a late November show.
- “Bluebird,” which first appeared in August and is more common in the Northeast.
- “Quail,” which appears most often in opposite corners of the U.S., northeast, and southwest. It was first detected in early October.
- “Mockingbird”, first found in late November and prevalent in the south-central US as well as on the east coast.
However, the vast majority of positive coronavirus samples are never genetically sequenced, so it is unclear to what extent the variants may be widespread and where they originated.
“Right now, I would hesitate to give a home location to any of these lineages,” Emma Hodcroft, another co-author of the study and epidemiologist at the University of Bern, told the New York Times.
Nor can it be said at this time whether the mutations are, in fact, more virulent, as the available data are insufficient to determine whether they have really spread at an accelerated rate or have simply benefited from conditions leading to the infection, such as a carrier attending a superspreader event.
However, it has been found that other international variants, most notably the UK strain, which has been detected in the state, including New York, are significantly more infectious than the garden variety coronavirus, which complicates the efforts to definitively undo the mortal error.