Southern France reports of new variant with 46 mutations

[kiwibird]

https://www.thailandmedical.news/ne...ns-and-37-deletions-originating-from-cameroon

This article states that 67 patients have been identified with this variant - all suffering moderate to severe symptoms. The variant first came to light at the end of November 2021 with the initial case being from Cameroon.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.24.21268174v1

Emergence in Southern France of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of probably Cameroonian origin harbouring both substitutions N501Y and E484K in the spike protein

Their analysis revealed 46 mutations and 37 deletions resulting in 30 amino acid substitutions and 12 deletions. Fourteen amino acid substitutions, including N501Y and E484K, and 9 deletions are located in the spike protein.

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...eille-hospital-forcalquier-ihu-b16402-omicron from December 10th.

Covid warning as ANOTHER new variant discovered in France – scientists sound alarm

ANOTHER variant of coronavirus has been detected by experts working in Marseille, France, as the world continues to battle the deadly virus.

The alarm was sounded by experts at the IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille. They announced on their Twitter that they had detected a new variant in Covid-19 patients from Forcalquier, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region. Dubbed "IHU," the variant has been registered under the name B.1.640.2 on the GISAID network (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data).

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.thailandmedical.news/ne...ariant-now-detected-in-united-kingdom-as-well

Article states 952 cases now detected in France, 17 individuals in the UK confirmed and also Monaco. (Obviously not going to be able to keep a track of the spread in the UK as PCR tests being rationed to conserve the laboratories conducting the analysis).

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[Pathfinder]

A variant found in France is not a concern, the W.H.O. says.

By Shashank Bengali
Jan. 5, 2022
Updated 9:55 a.m. ET

The World Health Organization says that it is monitoring a coronavirus variant detected in a small number of patients in France, but that, for now, there is little reason to worry about its spread.

The B.1.640.2 variant was first identified in October and uploaded to Gisaid, a database for disease variants, on Nov. 4. Only about 20 samples have been sequenced so far, experts said this week, and only one since early December.

Abdi Mahmud, a Covid incident manager with the W.H.O., told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the variant had been on the agency’s radar since November, but added that it did not appear to have spread widely over the past two months.

“That virus has had a lot of chances to pick up,” he said.
...
Concerns over the variant in France arose after researchers found that it contained 46 mutations that differed from the original version of the coronavirus. Omicron also has a high number of mutations, which researchers believe made it far more transmissible.
...
Numerous coronavirus variants have emerged over the past two years, and the reasons that some spread widely while others do not are complex. For now, several independent researchers say there is little reason to be concerned about the I.H.U. variant.
...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/world/covid-variant-france.html

 

[kiwibird]

https://interestingengineering.com/france-detected-new-coronavirus-variant-ihu-with-46-mutations

Four other samples sourced from individuals living in the same region were positive for this variant, taking the tally to 12 till the end of November. The number is not high to cause concern and not sufficient to get details of how transmissible the variant could be or whether it causes disease of higher severity.

...ICU admission rates in the region of France where the variant was found had increased which could be a cause of concern. However, the new variant would have to be much more transmissible to have a global impact, given that Omicron spreads faster than Delta.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...southern-france-coronavirus-cases-uk-cameroon

Dubbed the IHU variant, its official name is B.1.640.2 and Express.co.uk can confirm there have been at least two cases "already in the UK," but experts are monitoring it closely.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) commented: "We are aware of a small number of cases of B.1.640 in the UK and have been monitoring this particular variant specifically since late October.

"As it is in the nature of viruses to mutate often and at random, it is not unusual for small numbers of cases to arise featuring new sets of mutations.

At the present time, it has not been designated a Variant Under Investigation or a Variant of Concern

.

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[Pathfinder]

MinsanteCameroun

@MinsanteCMR
·
Jan 5

 

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

Covid-19: B.1.640.2, better known as an “IHU variant”, is a “variant under surveillance”

Lalaina Andriamparany
January 10, 2022

A variant of Covid-19 was recently discovered by researchers at the IHU in Marseille. This is a mutation that remains under surveillance according to the World Health Organization. B.1.640.2 (more colloquially referred to as "IHU variant") is believed to originate from Cameroon. In an interview with DW, Professor Yap Boum, Cameroonian epidemiologist and founder of Epicenter for Africa, sheds light on the progress of local research.

Sequencing work in progress
Despite the recent discovery of this variant, the media hastened to talk about the B.1.640.2 detected in the south of France by the University Hospital Institute ( IHU ) in Marseille, in an individual returning from Cameroon.

The IHU researchers have already published an article on medRxiv , which is awaiting its peer review, " but which has a result which may be interesting ", according to Professor Yap Boom.

In Cameroon , we are mobilizing resources to quickly obtain local sequences and find out if the IHU virus is really circulating in the country.
...
However, Professor Yap Boum, as an epidemiologist , wishes to clarify the limits of such a process at such an early stage. “ We still need to have confirmations. We hope that in the coming weeks, we will be able to have confirmation of the variants in circulation in Cameroon. It's a matter of patience, in a few days we will be able to have more details. "

In addition, it is still difficult to give a definitive opinion on the various symptoms that the variant causes. In fact, we speak of a “variant” when the virus goes through several mutations. In this sense, the fact of finding its presence in a single person does not allow us to study it or to know whether it generates a severe form or not. Conversely, the Marseille IHU is one of the places in the world where the most research has been done on COVID-19. And we are able to compare this variant to its predecessors.

https://lecourrierdesstrateges.fr/2...variant-ihu-est-un-variant-sous-surveillance/

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this