The variant has mutations which could potentially be more resistant to Covid-19 vaccines.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it is monitoring new Covid-19 “variant of interest” B.1.621, which has been given the label “Mu”.
In collaboration with national authorities, institutions and researchers, the WHO routinely assesses if variants of Covid-19 alter transmission or disease characteristics.
It also evaluates whether they have an impact on the effectiveness of vaccines or the effectiveness of public health and social measures to control disease spread.
Variants are categorised as either “variants of concern” or “variants of interest”.
In its weekly epidemiological update on Covid-19, the WHO said the Mu variant was classified as a variant of interest on Monday and has “a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape.”
“Preliminary data presented to the Virus Evolution Working Group show a reduction in neutralisation capacity of convalescent and vaccinee sera similar to that seen for the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies.”
Since its first identification in Colombia in January 2021, there have been “a few sporadic reports” of cases of the Mu variant,” the WHO said.
It also stated there have been “some larger outbreaks” of the variant reported from other countries in South America and Europe.
“Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, the prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has consistently increased,” the international public health body revealed.
It said more studies are required to understand the characteristics of the variant and that the epidemiology of the strain in South America will be monitored for changes.
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