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There have been around 40 identified cases in Nevada of the mu variant of the coronavirus, the latest troubling strain to join the World Health Organization’s watch list, a senior state public health official said. .
Designating mu a “variant of interest” on August 30, the WHO said it possessed a constellation of mutations that could make it resistant to protection against disease offered by vaccination or past infection with COVID-19. .
Despite the designation, the head of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory believes mu (pronounced “mew”) is unlikely to overtake the highly contagious delta mutant as the state’s dominant strain.
“He was seeded here. It was no flash in the pan, ”lab director Mark Pandori said of mu, first spotted in the state in late April and still present until early August. However, his laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, has not detected the new variant mu for more than 30 days.
“That means he didn’t outlast the competition with Delta. He did not survive the vaccination. He did not survive masking and social distancing. “
Still, it’s possible mu will make a comeback, he said.
Variant with single mutation
Laboratories detect variants by sequencing, a form of genetic analysis conducted on test samples from positive cases.
About 40 cases of mu, also known as B.1.621, have been spotted in five counties in Nevada: Clark, Washoe, Lander, Elko and Churchill, Pandori said.
Cases of the mu variant first identified in Colombia have been found in 42 countries and at least 47 states in the United States, according to the website epidemic.info, a Scripps Research labs project supported by the National Institute. of allergies and infectious diseases, the National Center for Data to Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the United States, 1,742 cases of mu have been identified, or 0.05 cases sequenced. California leads the country with 243 cases, the most recent reported on Aug. 16, according to the website.
The WHO said in a bulletin that although the global prevalence of mu is declining, its prevalence in Colombia and Ecuador has steadily increased.
Scientists are focusing their attention on the mu variant due to mutations already found in other variants that could make it more contagious and resistant to monoclonal antibodies and antiviral therapies, epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina recently wrote in her coronavirus newsletter. .
It also has a unique mutation, which could inhibit the immune system’s B and T cell response to the virus, according to Jetelina, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston. “Researchers are quickly studying this change. It could be concerning, but it could also be nothing, ”she wrote.
The descendants of the delta ascend
When a new variant is identified, it is not immediately clear how much of a threat it will pose.
“We went from alpha to mu, and only alpha and delta took off,” Pandori said, referring to the letters of the Greek alphabet used to name troubling strains or lineages. The more transmissible alpha variant first identified in the UK has become the dominant variant in the US to be replaced by the even more contagious delta variant first identified in India.
As the coronavirus continues to evolve due to continued transmission, he believes a delta descendant will eventually become the next dominant strain. The delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, accounted for 90% of Nevada’s sequenced cases in the past 14 days, according to a Sept. 3 report from the state lab.
“Delta has proven to be extraordinary in its ability to spread,” he said. Through natural selection, strains that evolve from delta may be more adept at propagating.
Delta has so far produced around 20 offspring. The handful of about identified in Nevada tripled over the past week, Pandori said, contributing to his theory that a delta descendant will eventually dominate.
“We have a bad situation here, because we have a lot of unvaccinated people who can serve as replication entities for the virus, resulting in a mutation,” he said. “Yes, people who are vaccinated can do the same thing, but they do it more slowly and for less time. “
With many people unvaccinated, the virus continues to evolve rapidly and the pandemic to persist, Pandori said. The constraints on normal life remain.
“There are a lot of variations because we create them,” he said. “And as long as we continue to create these variations, we will continue to live the life that we are now living.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Mary Hynes at [email protected] or 702-383-0336. To follow @ MaryHynes1 on Twitter.
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