New Nigerian coronavirus variant P681H “has the 501 mutation”

Africa, Coronavirus, Health, Mutation, Nigeria, Reinfection, Vaccine

A new variant of the coronavirus, P681H, has been identified, this time in Nigeria, with a separate lineage from the variants found in the UK and in South Africa, John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said on Thursday.

“The one we are seeing in Nigeria, and this is based on very limited data yet, has the 501 mutation,” Nkengasong added, referring to the variant termed 501.V2 identified in South Africa and announced by public health officials there on Dec. 18.

The P681H variant in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, was found in two patient samples collected on Aug. 3 and on Oct. 9 in Osun state, according to a working research paper seen by The Associated Press.

https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2020/12/25/after-uk-south-africa-another-coronavirus-strain-found-in-nigeria-africa-cdc.html

 

Image by Miroslava Chrienova from Pixabay
 

** This post was originally published on December 28, 2020 **