ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the mu coronavirus variant as its "variant of interest" as it has infected people in 49 US states and dozens of countries. There have been only three reported cases since July in Missouri and 21 cases since April in Illinois, according to ourbreak.info.
On Sunday, the nation's leading infection disease expect Dr. Anthony Fauci said the variant, also labeled as B.1.621, is "not an immediate threat." However, he did say it has demonstrated mutations that "indicate that it might evade the protection from certain antibodies."
Based on genetic mutations, WHO warned that current vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments may not work as well against mu as they do against the original coronavirus or other strains. The mu variant "has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape," WHO stated.
Here are a few more things you need to know about the variant:
• mu is the fifth variant of interest being monitored by the World Health Organization. The others are Eta, Iota, Kappa and Lambda. The variants of concern are Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
• It translates for less than 1% of total coronavirus cases in the US. The Delta variant is leading with about 99% of cases.
• mu was first discovered in Colombia in January.
It's been most prevalent in California with at least 384 cases, but the total translates to 0.2% of the state’s sequenced samples.
"The Mu variant is found to have key mutations linked to greater transmissibility and the potential to evade antibodies," a statement from LA County Public Health reads. "More studies are needed to determine whether Mu variant is more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccine and treatments than other COVID-19 strains."
Missouri's Coronavirus Sewershed Surveillance Project based in Columbia at the University of Missouri first detected the variant in wastewater in May. The research has been able to find the first traces of emerging coronavirus variants.
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