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While leading scientists were busy working to understand the extent of the threat from a new coronavirus genetic mutation that was first announced by the UK on Saturday, which has since been found in South African-related cases, another new variant appears. of the virus. It emerged in Nigeria, Africa’s top public health official said Thursday, adding that more research is needed.
The discovery could add further alarm to the pandemic, as the initial new strain led to the swift return of international travel restrictions and other measures during an important holiday season.
“It’s a separate lineage from the UK and South Africa,” Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) director John Nkengasong told reporters. He said the Nigerian CDC and the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases would analyze more samples.
“Give us a little time … it’s still very early,” he said.
The identification of the apparent new variant was based on two or three genetic sequences, Nkengasong said, but that and the alert from South Africa last week were enough to spark an emergency meeting of the CDC of Africa this week. The variant in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, was found in two patient samples collected on Aug.3 and Oct.9 in Osun state, according to a working research document viewed by The Associated Press (AP). .
Unlike the variant seen in the UK, “we have not seen such a rapid increase in lineage in Nigeria and we have no evidence to indicate that the P681H variant is contributing to increased transmission of the virus in Nigeria. However, the relative difference en The scale of genomic surveillance in Nigeria versus the United Kingdom may imply reduced power to detect such changes, “the paper says.
More than 40 countries have banned UK arrivals due to concerns about the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus, with the US announcing that it will require British airline passengers to have a negative COVID-19 test with 72 flight hours. All UK airline passengers will be required to provide these results to the airline, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement Thursday.
The agency said the order will be signed on Friday and will take effect on Monday. “If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny him boarding,” the CDC said in its statement. The agency said that due to travel restrictions in place since March, air travel to the United States from the United Kingdom has already been reduced by 90%.
The news from Nigeria comes as infections are on the rise again in parts of the African continent. The new variant of the virus in South Africa is now predominant there, Nkengasong said, as confirmed infections in the country approach a million. While the variant spreads quickly and viral loads are higher, it is not yet clear whether it leads to more serious infections, he said.
“We believe this mutation will not have an effect” on the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines on the continent, he said of the South African variant. South Africa’s health minister announced an “alarming rate of spread” in the country, with more than 14,000 new confirmed cases and more than 400 deaths reported on Wednesday. It was the largest increase in cases in a single day.
The country has more than 950,000 infections and COVID-19 is “relentless,” said Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize.
“Right now there are no signs that we are reaching a peak. There is still rapid exponential growth,” infectious disease specialist Richard Lessells told the AP. He said South Africa needs to redouble virus control efforts “because there are already many hospitals in many parts of the country that are extremely stressed.”
However, there is little indication of the tough restrictions that many African countries imposed at the start of the pandemic, which were seen as causing serious problems for economies and millions of informal workers.
The African continent now has more than 2.5 million confirmed cases, or 3.3% of global cases. Infections across the continent have risen 10.9% in the past four weeks, the CDC Africa director said, including a 52% increase in Nigeria and 40% in South Africa.
For the first time since the first virus case was confirmed in sub-Saharan Africa in February, Nigeria is in the spotlight as infections rise. “In recent weeks, we have had a huge increase in the number of samples for (the Nigerian CDC reference laboratory),” CDC Africa Director General Chikwe Ihekweazu tweeted on Thursday.
“This has caused an unusual delay with testing, but we are working around the clock,” and many colleagues cut their vacation short and go back to work, he said.
Nigeria now has more than 80,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. A record number of daily infections was recorded on Dec. 17 at more than 1,100, and there has been a “rapid increase” in cases in the past two weeks, the Nigeria CDC said this week, citing an increase in travel and “a minimum of COVID -19 security measures ”as reasons.
The government has reimposed some virus restrictions, including meeting limits and recommended closures of bars, nightclubs and similar venues.
