Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Global health watchdog World Health Organization (WHO) is monitoring a new coronavirus variant named Mu, first identified in Colombia in January this year.
Mu, known scientifically as B.1.621, has been classified as a “Variant of Interest” (VOI), the WHO said on Tuesday in its weekly pandemic bulletin, according to media reports on Wednesday.
The variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines and stressed that further studies were needed to better understand it.
“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the bulletin said.
The emergence of new virus mutations has triggered concerns as infection rates are ticking up globally once again, with the highly transmissible Delta variant turning dominant—particularly among the unvaccinated—and in regions where anti-virus measures have been relaxed.
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19, mutate over time and most mutations have little or no effect on the properties of the virus, the reports said.
But some mutations can impact the properties of a virus and influence how easily it spreads, the severity of the disease it causes, and its resistance to vaccines, drugs, and other countermeasures.
As of now, the WHO identifies four Covid-19 VOIs, including Alpha, found in 193 countries, and Delta, reported in nearly 170 countries.
Currently, five variants, including Mu, are being monitored.
After detection in Colombia, Mu has been reported in other South American countries, and in Europe.
The WHO said its global prevalence has declined to below 0.1 percent among sequenced cases. In Colombia, however, it is at 39 percent, the reports added.