Amid a steady rise in Covid-19 cases across the globe which has been attributed to highly mutated variant- Omicron, scientists in France have identified a new, much more mutated strain- named IHU B.1.640.2 variant.
It was discovered by the academics at the institute IHU Mediterranee Infection and researchers say that it contains 46 mutations, more than Omicron. With more mutations, the new variant becomes more resistant to vaccines and infectious.
At least 12 cases of the new variant have been reported near Marseilles, and has been linked to travel to the African country Cameroon. However, the Omicron variant is still reported to be the dominant strain in most parts of the world. The B.1.640.2 has not been spotted in other countries or labelled a variant under investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Quoted by the Hindustan Times, a paper posted on medRxiv stated that, the genomes were obtained by next-generation sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologies on GridION instruments. It said, “14 amino acid substitutions, including N501Y and E484K, and 9 deletions are located in the spike protein. This genotype pattern led to create a new Pangolin lineage named B.1.640.2, which is a phylogenetic sister group to the old B.1.640 lineage renamed B.1.640.1.”
Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding posted a Twitter thread where he stated that new variants keep emerging but it does not necessarily mean they will be more dangerous. “What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus,” he said.
NEW VARIANT—French scientists have “rung the bell” after discovering a cluster 12 cases of a variant of “atypical combination” with **46 mutations & 37 deletions** in southern France after index case returned from Cameroon—dubbed #B16402. #COVID19 https://t.co/SHXCbnkQUr pic.twitter.com/UwdL2hSW5g— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 3, 2022
So far, Omicron is spreading rapidly, a total of 1,892 cases of the variant have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far, out of which 766 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry’s data updated. Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of 568 cases, followed by Delhi (382), Kerala (185), Rajasthan (174), Gujarat (152), and Tamil Nadu (121). India’s Covid tally rose to 3,49,60,261 with 37,379 new cases, while the active cases increased to 1,71,830, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The death toll climbed to 4,82,017 with 124 more fatalities, the data showed.
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