New variant first discovered in India is now in Ca
Post# of 148280
The AP reported on 3/24/2021 that a new variant was discovered in India.
https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-asia-pac...ba3345aba1
The new variant found in India has two mutations in the spiky protein that the virus uses to fasten itself to cells, said Dr. Rakesh Mishra, the director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, one of the 10 research institutes sequencing the virus.
He added that these genetic tweaks could be of concern since they might help the virus spread more easily and escape the immune system, but he cautioned against linking it to the surge.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that the variant was found in 15%-20% of the samples sequenced from Maharashtra state. The state, which is home to India’s financial capital, has been worst hit by the recent surge and accounts for over 60% of all active cases in India.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/first-confirm...07217.html
LOS ANGELES — Researchers at Stanford University said Saturday that they had found at least one case of a new coronavirus variant first detected in India in Northern California.
The new variant has two mutations, including one found in the California strain, in the spiky protein that the virus latches onto, according to Stanford Health Care spokesperson Lisa Kim. The variant was found in a patient from the San Francisco Bay Area by the school's Clinical Virology Laboratory.
"We believe this is the first described case with this variant in the United States," she said in an emailed statement.