The World Health Organization is currently monitoring a new Covid-19 variant called “Mu”, which was first identified in Colombia in January.
Mu is known scientifically as B.1.621 that has been classified as a “variant of interest”, the global health body said Tuesday in its weekly pandemic bulletin.
This variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines said the WHO, it also stressed that further studies were needed to better understand it. “The Mu variant has a collection of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the bulletin said.
With the highly transmissible Delta variant taking hold, especially among the unvaccinated, there is a widespread concern over the emergence of new virus mutations as infection rates are indicating up globally again and the anti-virus measures have been relaxed in these regions.
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes coronavirus, mutate over time and most of its mutations have little or no effect on the properties of the virus. But there are certain mutations that 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.
Currently, four variants of Covid-19 have been identified by the WHO, that include Alpha, which is present in 193 countries, and Delta, present in 170 countries.
Five variants, including Mu, are to be monitored.
After being detected in Colombia, Mu has since 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. However, in Colombia, it is at 39 percent