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Another strain of the new coronavirus appears to have appeared in Nigeria, the director of the African Disease Control Authority announced on Thursday, warning that more research is needed, Reuters reports, cited by Agerpres.
The news comes after both the UK and South Africa reported new mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which appear to be more contagious, leading to additional travel restrictions and disruptions in financial markets.
“It’s a separate affiliation from the UK and South Africa,” John Nkengasong, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Africa, said at an online news conference in Addis Ababa.
“The one we discovered in Nigeria, from the little data we have so far, shows the 501 mutation,” added Nkengasong, referring to the mutation called 501.V2, identified in South Africa and announced by the authorities. in this country on December 18.
The Nigerian CDC and the African Center of Excellence for Genomics and Infectious Diseases in Nigeria will study further evidence, Nkengasong said.
The country’s leading COVID-19 research center has released the genomic sequences of the new strain, he added.
The CDC in Nigeria did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nkengasong’s allegations.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, with more than 200 million inhabitants, has fewer cases of coronavirus compared to other countries on the continent.
According to Wednesday’s report, the number of cases surpassed 80,000 and the number of daily infections surpassed 1,000, for the first time this month.
Publisher: Liviu Cojan
