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The variant, which has not been found to be intrinsically more dangerous, was first identified among agricultural workers in the eastern Spanish regions of Aragon and Catalonia.
In the last two months, it has accounted for about 90% of new infections in Spain, according to research work, prepared by seven researchers with the support of Swiss and Spanish public scientific institutions.
The strain has crossed European borders and accounted for 40-70% of new infections in Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom in September, they found.
The scientists said that the strain’s characteristic mutation gave it no apparent advantage and that its success may be because the people who spotted it first are particularly mobile and sociable.
But in some places outside of Spain, the variant trip developed a dynamic of its own, indicating that it may have a transmission advantage.
“Its frequency in the UK has continued to rise even after non-quarantine travel was suspended and the main summer travel period ended. Therefore, this variant could be transmitted faster than competing variants,” wrote the researchers.
Efforts to sequence viral genomes differ widely across Europe, limiting their research, they said.
“The rapid increase in these variants in Europe highlights the importance of genomic surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic … it is imperative to understand whether the new variants affect the severity of the disease.”
The World Health Organization said in July that there was no evidence that mutations in the virus had caused more serious illness. He formed a working group to better understand how mutations behave.
All viruses only make imperfect copies of themselves when they infect a host, but the tendency for this random drift varies between virus classes.
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