The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the strain SARS-CoV-2, first detected in Colombia, as a “variant of interest,” adding to its weekly bulletin that it will monitor the spread of the variant.
According to the WHO, the mu variant was first detected in Colombia in January.
Variants of interest have been shown to exhibit genetic changes that affect virus characteristics, including transmissibility, disease severity, and immune leakage. Variants of interest differ from variants of concern, which have been shown to cause a decrease in the effectiveness of public health measures, vaccines, or therapeutic products.
“[Mu] it has been designated as a variant of interest as it presents some mutations that need to be studied for their potential impact on the body’s immune response. Data shared with the WHO Working Group on the Evolution of the Virus indicate that immunity developed through previous infection or vaccination may not be as strong against this variant. More studies are needed to confirm this, “the WHO said in a statement.
“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential immune escape properties. Preliminary data presented to the working group on the evolution of the virus show a reduction in the neutralizing capacity of convalescent and vaccine-like sera. view for the Beta variant, but be confirmed by further studies, “the WHO said in its weekly bulletin.
Other variants of interest include eta, iota, kappa and lambda. Like mu, lambda was also detected in South America, Peru. Iota was first detected in the US in November.
“The circulation of the Mu variant has decreased globally and less than 0.1% of the shared sequences currently belong to this variant,” the WHO said. “However, its prevalence in Colombia and Ecuador has been increasing in recent weeks. The WHO will closely monitor the epidemiological evolution of this variant, along with studies on its impact.”
The news comes as the United States continues to fight the spread of the delta variant, which remains the dominant strain in the country after it was first reported in India.
The delta variant was designated by the WHO as a variant of interest in early April and became a variant of concern on 11 May.