![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/uk-city-has-first-case-of-new-covid-pirola-variant-with-high-number-of-mutations/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2_Mutating-Virus-Variant.jpg&description=The new Covid strain, also known as 'Pirola', has sparked alarm and put scientists on alert as its mutations could include dodging the body's immunity from prior infections or vaccination A new coronavirus variant with a "high number of mutations" has been detected in London, the Mirror understands. The BA.2.86 mutation, also known as 'Pirola', has sparked alarm and put scientists on alert as cases start to increase worldwide. Its mutations could include dodging the body's immunity from prior infections or vaccination. The strain was first detected in Denmark on July 24 and was also found in that country on July 31, the same day it was discovered in Israel. A case in the US was detected earlier this month. Yesterday, it was found in the UK - specifically London - in someone with no recent travel history. This means there could already be "significant community transmission" among Britons, the UK Health Security Agency said. The variant is said to be gnomically distant from its likely ancestor the BA.2 variant, nicknamed "stealth Omicron". That variant gained its nickname from the fact it is more transmissible than the original Omicron strain, which originated in southern Africa and was first detected in the UK in late 2021. The UKHSA said there is "insufficient data" to assess the new strain's relative severity or how likely it is to evade the protection offered by vaccines compared to other currently-circulating variants. The agency said it would continue to monitor the spread of the variant closely while checks to determine the risks it may pose continue. Francois Balloux, Professor of computational systems biology and director of the UCL Genetics Institute at University College London, said the new strain is "the most striking SARS-CoV-2 strain the world has witnessed since the emergence of Omicron" with more than 30 mutations. However it is unlikely to cause a fresh wave of severe disease and deaths, or prompt fresh restrictions on people's daily lives, because){kind=link}
The new Covid strain, also known as ‘Pirola’, has sparked alarm and put scientists on alert as its mutations could include dodging the body’s immunity from prior infections or vaccination
A new coronavirus variant with a “high number of mutations” has been detected in London, the Mirror understands.
The BA.2.86 mutation, also known as ‘Pirola’, has sparked alarm and put scientists on alert as cases start to increase worldwide. Its mutations could include dodging the body’s immunity from prior infections or vaccination.
The strain was first detected in Denmark on July 24 and was also found in that country on July 31, the same day it was discovered in Israel. A case in the US was detected earlier this month.
Yesterday, it was found in the UK – specifically London – in someone with no recent travel history. This means there could already be “significant community transmission” among Britons, the UK Health Security Agency said.