E-Paper
‘No excuse’: Researcher questions US' strategy over evolving coronavirus variants
The virologist said that the United States has not done enough to get continuously updated with the mutations of the virus.
After researchers identified evolving variants of the coronavirus in the US, a virologist studying the mutations said that there’s “really no excuse” why the country has not sequenced more samples to obtain additional data on the virus. Jeremy Kamil, an author of the study in which seven new variants carrying similar troubling variants were identified, said that the US has not done enough to get continuously updated with the mutations of the virus.
“Our study identified seven [mutations], but there's a giant family tree of the coronavirus in humans as it spilled into us. And our country has really not done enough to keep up to date or keep up tabs on what the virus is doing,” Kamil, an associate professor at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, told CNN.
The study has not been peer-reviewed yet but the scientists are rushing online to quickly share the information with other experts. The researchers believe that the evolution favours the particular genetic stretch, named 677, given the similarity of the mutations.
“In late January of 2021, our two independent SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance programs...noticed increasing numbers of...viruses carrying an S:Q677P mutation, and that this variant had increased in frequency in samples collected in late 2020 to mid-January,” the researchers wrote in the study published in pre-print sever.
Read | The coronavirus may not be able to mutate beyond control
They identified seven similar mutations at 677 and named them after American birds for ease of discussion and to avoid geographically-associated names or nicknames. One of the variants, Robin 1, has been detected in more than 30 US states but predominates in the Midwest. Another variant which first appeared in an October 6 sample from Alabama has been named “Robin 2”, owing to its similarity to the parental Robin 1 sub-lineage. “This cluster contains 303 sequences, and is found mostly in the Southeast,” they wrote.
“I think the bigger message is that we need to be doing a better job -- and a more even job -- sequencing the virus so we can know whether there are changes to be concerned about or not,” said Kamil.
The United States has reported more than 27 million coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases and over 480,000 related deaths so far, the highest across the world, according to Coronavirus Resource Center of Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. Although the number of daily cases has been on a decline, a senior White House Covid-19 adviser said that the drop could be misleading and the virus could have “a lot of surprises in store for us.”
“Ultimately, science will win here, ultimately, we will beat this...but I don’t think we’re anywhere close to out of the woods,” Andy Slavitt told MSNBC.
