Oh Great — It Mutated. If helping to keep your fellow men and women in public safe and healthy didn’t give you enough incentive to stay home, maybe this new information will. As of now, following a quiet Easter weekend, the COVID-19 virus has mutated into three distinct strains. If you thought you were safe from this virus because you were young and healthy, time to reconsider.
Taking samples from infected patients across the globe between December 24th, 2019 and March 4th, 2020, researchers have mapped the spread of the original virus strain and its variants. The original outbreak strand from Wuhan, China is regarded as “Type A.” This strand closely resembles a virus found in bats and pangolins. One of the “sub-clusters” of the Type A virus strain is linked to a strand common in America and Australia.
The virus had already mutated while raising alarm in Wuhan, giving rise to “Type B.” This is the predominant form of the virus that spread across Wuhan, and subsequently the Eastern Asia greater area. This includes China, Mongolia, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. However, Type B did not spread much further than Eastern Asia.
The major European virus strand was a mutation of Type B, dubbed “Type C.” Where Type B was derived from Type A via two mutations, Type C is only one mutation different to the “parent variation.” Type C was found in early patients from France, Italy, Sweden and England. It is most likely the strain ravaging Italy today.
Combining the relatively common SARS-CoV2, which has a relatively low mutation rate, with the novel virus strand provides complications for manufacturing a vaccine. Researchers say:
“The discovery of this mutation raises the alarm that the ongoing vaccine development may become futile in future epidemic if more mutations were identified.”
This hasn’t stopped researchers from trying to find a cure though, and the race will continue. However, it is more important than ever for people to stay home and try to prevent further mutations to get this virus under control. COVID-19 doesn’t concern you? Read here to find out about the African Swine Fever sweeping the globe.
