WHO tracking 'mu variant,' a new COVID 'variant of interest'

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is tracking a caller COVID-19 "variant of interest," and portion the strain is obscurity adjacent arsenic wide arsenic different mutations, the enactment says it is showing immoderate signs of absorption to vaccines.

The mu variant is the 5th variant strain to gain the rubric of "variant of interest" from the WHO. Among the different variants tracked by the WHO is the delta variant — a mutant strain proven to beryllium much contagious, starring to a 4th outbreak of the microorganism successful the U.S.

In its weekly epidemiological update, the WHO warned that the mu variant is becoming "increasingly prevalent" successful Colombia and Ecuador. The WHO's study says that mu present represents 39% of infections successful Colombia and 13% of infections successful neighboring Ecuador.

The bureau besides warned that mu has "a fig of mutations that suggest it could beryllium much resistant to vaccines," but they cautioned that "further probe is needed" to corroborate that the mu variant is resisting vaccinations.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mu variant is obscurity adjacent arsenic wide successful the United States arsenic different COVID-19 strains. As of Thursday afternoon, the delta variant represented 99.1% of cases successful the U.S, and the bureau does not adjacent database circumstantial totals for cases of the mu variant.

Outbreak.info — a task led by Scripps Research — says the mu variant represents little than 0.5% of the cumulative beingness of COVID-19 successful the U.S. In each authorities but Alaska, mu represents little than 1% of cases.

The WHO said Tuesday that it would proceed to show "the epidemiology of the Mu variant successful South America, peculiarly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant…for changes."

Editor's note: There is nary narration betwixt Scripps Research and the E.W. Scripps Company, which owns this tv station.