Thread by @DrEricDing

📍The @WHO is monitoring a new coronavirus variant called "mu." It has mutations that have the “potential to evade immunity” by a previous infection or vaccination, the WHO said. #MuVariant was first identified in Colombia & now in at least 39 countries 🧵
google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc…

2) The new #MuVariant is also known as #B1621 and is currently a new “variant of interest”, but not yet a VOC. who.int/en/activities/…

3) “The variant contains genetic mutations that indicate natural immunity, current vaccines or monoclonal antibody treatments may not work as well against it as they do against the original ancestral virus, the WHO said.”

4) “The mu strain needs further study to confirm whether it will prove to be more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments.”

5) Mu "has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape. Preliminary data presented show a reduction in neutralization capacity of convalescent & vaccine sera similar to Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies” ⚠️

6) “The new variant, mu, was first identified in Colombia but has since been confirmed in at least 39 countries. Although the global prevalence among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia & Ecuador has consistently increased”

7) “The WHO said more studies are required to understand the clinical characteristics of the new variant.
"The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes," the agency said.”

8) At the same Tuesday WHO meeting, they confirmed that new variants will be named after stars and constellations once Green letters run out. ➡️Note, Andromeda is a constellation… so… “Andromeda Strain” is now technically possible as a name. 👀

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1433120091646930944