A new Covid-19 variant has been identified in the UK with more than 32 detected cases, experts have said.
The B1525 variant was detected via genome sequencing in 11 countries, including Denmark, France, Spain, the US, Nigeria, Australia and others, said scientists at the University of Edinburgh.
UK experts are now calling for surge testing until more is known about the variant and the efficacy of the vaccines against it.
The variant has genome similarities to the Kent strain and a number of mutations that have concerned researchers, reported The Guardian.
Experts said it contains the E484K mutation to the spike protein – also found in the South African and Brazilian strains – which is thought to neutralise antibodies and allow the virus to enter human cells more easily.
Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said although little is known about the variant, the E484K mutation was known in the South African strain to be more resistant to some vaccines.
He told the newspaper: ‘We don’t yet know how well this [new] variant will spread, but if it is successful it can be presumed that immunity from any vaccine or previous infection will be blunted.’
‘I think that until we know more about these variants, any variants which carry E484K should be subject to surge testing as it seems to confer resistance to immunity, however that is generated,’ he added.
Professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, Ravi Gupta, said that as well as the E484K mutation, the variant had another change ‘that likely helps it escape from our antibodies’ and called for surge testing.
The earliest traces the Edinburgh team found of B1525 were dated back to December, appearing in the UK and Nigeria.
Since then, it has also been detected in Belgium, Jordan, Ghana and most recently Canada, with cases detected in British Columbia on Friday.
Provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, told reporters: ‘We aren’t entirely clear yet whether this variant also has increased transmissibility or causes more severe illness, but our lab team is working with their counterparts across the country and internationally to get a better understanding of what this can mean.’
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