A new Covid-19 variant has been labelled a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation.
The variant, named Mu or known as or B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia, with cases recorded in South America and Europe.
The variant has mutations which could make the strain more resistant to vaccines, the WHO's weekly bulletin on the pandemic said, but that further studies are needed to be certain.
The WHO said: “Since its first identification in Colombia in January 2021, there have been a few sporadic reports of cases of the Mu variant and some larger outbreaks have been reported from other countries in South America and in Europe.
“Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, the prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has consistently increased.
“The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes.”
There are currently four coronavirus variants of concern, as deemed by the WHO, with the Alpha variant – first recorded in Kent – seen in 193 countries, Beta in 141, Gamma in 91 and Delta in 170 countries, while Mu is the fifth variant of interest.
