Africa’s top public health official said on Thursday that a new strain of the coronavirus has been found in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country.
As The Associated Press reports, John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters that the new strain had been identified based on two or three genetic sequences, prompting an emergency meeting this week. civil servants.
“It’s a separate lineage from the UK and South Africa,” said Nkengasong. “Give us some time … it’s still very early.”
According to a research paper obtained by the AP, the new strain was found in samples from two patients collected in August and October in Osun state, Nigeria. The news service noted that the COVID-19 variant was different from that in the UK
“We have not observed such a rapid rise in the line in Nigeria and have no evidence that the P681H variant contributes to increased transmission of the virus in Nigeria,” the research paper said. “However, the relative difference in genomic surveillance scale in Nigeria versus the UK may imply a reduced ability to detect such changes.”
Nkengasong said it was still not known whether the new coronavirus strain led to more severe symptoms, although he noted that it is more rapidly transmitted and has a higher viral load.
The species found in South Africa and the UK has led several countries around the world to restrict travel. Some lawmakers have expressed support for similar measures in the US, with the White House reportedly considering requiring a negative COVID-19 test from British travelers.
Africa has seen a new wave of cases, the AP notes, with Nkengasong claiming Nigeria had seen a 52 percent increase in the last month, while the number of cases in South Africa had increased 40 percent.
According to the World Health Organization, Nigeria has so far confirmed nearly 80,000 cases and just over 1,200 deaths from the coronavirus.