New York City is experiencing a new coronavirus strain sharing some of South Africa’s characteristics with different species, researchers said Wednesday.
As of mid-February, a new variant named B..5.526 was present in 12 percent of coronavirus samples collected in and around the Big Apple Pal, said researchers at Columbia University Vegalos College Led Phys Physicians and Surgeons.
In their analysis of publicly available databases, Colombian researchers could not find a high proportion of South African or Brazilian COVID-19 variants in the region.
An assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. “Instead we found a big lineage in this grown-up,” said Katherine Man-Halem.
The Columbia study found that the new strain has some similarities to the strain in South Africa, which scientists believe is more easily transmitted than other virus types.
B.1.526 was also described in research published this week by the California Institute of Technology.
None of the studies have been reviewed by outside experts.
With post wire
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