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Scientists found New COVID-19 variant in Nigeria
By Dayo Badmus
The United Kingdom’s ‘lineage B.1.1.7,’ a mutant variant of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been found in Nigeria According to Scientists at the Redeemer’s University, Nigeria.
The ‘lineage B.1.1.7’ mutant variant of the coronavirus reportedly had been existing in Osun State, Nigeria, since August 3, 2020, when the first sample was taken.
Another sample was reportedly obtained from the state in October, showing same presence of the new variant.
The ‘lineage B.1.1.7’ variant has recently become a source of concern in the United Kingdom, leading to another round of lockdown.
The RUN study, first published last September 6 in the Conversation, a copyright-free news channel, stated that genome sequencing helped researchers to understand the virus, its epidemiology and evolution.
The finding was also published on the Journal of Virological Methods on Monday, December 21, and titled, ‘Detection of the New Emergent SARS-CoV-2 Variant in Nigeria.
Two scientists at Ede, Osun State-based RUN — Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Christian Happi; and Ify Aniebo — carried out the study.
The researchers are of the African Centre of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Diseases at the RUN’s Ede campus.
They worked in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and had reported 24 additional genome sequences of the COVID-19 from Nigeria.
Last week, the UK had reported a more virulent strain of COVID-19, with the potential to infect by 70 percent.
The B.1.1.7 variant of the virus, thought to be a mutation associated with higher transmission and pathogenicity, is the latest scourge in the United Kingdom and has made the British government to declare another lockdown to check its spread.
A handful of countries have also banned flights from the UK in order to prevent its importation into their countries.
Prof. Happi, in The Conversation article, said globally, there is only one strain of SARS-CoV-2, which is also the same as the strain circulating in Nigeria, noting, however, that there are more than 1,000 lineages of this novel virus in circulation around the world.
While identifying the root of the pandemic, the researchers said many sequences originating from China and many global exports — including to South East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the USA and Europe — are represented in this lineage.
More crucially, the researchers said the B.1 strain of COVID-19 was of a large European lineage that corresponds to the Italian outbreak.
They added that the B.2.1 strain was of a large lineage with representation from the UK, Europe, Jordan, Australia, USA, India, and Ghana.
Talking about their findings, the scientists said, “We investigated the presence of the globally spread spike protein mutation D614G which has steadily increased temporally in Europe, East coast of the United States, South America,
Africa and some parts of Asia, and found four Nigerian patients infected with the Spike D614G mutant virus.”
Continuing, they said, “Three of these patients presented with very severe disease.
“This mutation has been associated with higher transmission and pathogenicity, and also helps the virus to evade immune interventions as it dominates the wild type whenever it is introduced into a new location.”
According to the RUNS researchers, only about one percent of the genomes from Nigeria belong to the mutant B.1.1.7 lineage and that one of them predated the UK experience.
(The PUNCH)
