Vietnam: recombinant/hybrid coronavirus announced – B.1.617.2 Delta variant with Y144 mutation from B.1.1.7 Alpha variant

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Vietnam has detected a coronavirus hybrid variant with characteristics from the existing B16172 Delta variant and B117 Alpha variant, the Ministry of Health announced Saturday. Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said a new coronavirus variant has recently been detected in Vietnam with characteristics from both the Alpha and the Delta variants. More specifically, it is a Delta variant B.1.617.2 with mutations that originally belong to the Alpha variant B.1.1.7.

Laboratory cultures of the new variant, which is much more transmissible than the previously known types, revealed that the virus replicated itself very quickly, explaining why so many new cases appeared in different locations in a short period, Long was quoted as saying.

VNExpress.net report

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According to the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the results of viral gene sequencing of 32 Covid-19 patient samples, detected 4 samples infected with the Delta B16172 strain but carrying a gene mutation of the Alpha B117 strain.

“We found that there is a Y144 deletion mutation on the S protein of the virus B.1.617.2 (first detected in India). This mutation is similar to the mutation detected on variant B.1.1.7 (first detected in the UK)”, Professor Le Thi Quynh Mai, Deputy Director of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said on the evening of May 29.

Up to now, Vietnam has recorded a total of 7 strains of nCoV, including: B.1.222, B.1.619, D614G, B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), B.1.351, A.23.1 and B.1.617.2 (Delta variant).

VnExpress.net report

 

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Vietnam: first case of coronavirus variant B.1.617.2 found in Ho Chi Minh City

** This post was originally published on May 29, 2021 **