A new strain of coronavirus discovered in the south of France – RBC

A new variant of the coronavirus of Cameroonian origin has appeared in the south of France, follows from the preprint of the study of a new mutation, which published on the MedRxiv portal.

According to the study, 12 people have already been infected with it. The first case of infection with this strain was detected on December 9, it follows from messages Mediterranean University Hospital Institute (IHU Méditerranée Infection), posted on Twitter. A new version was found in a patient from the commune of Forcalquier in the Alpes-Haute Provence department. The strain was named IHU and was registered in the GISAID (Global Virus Genome Database) as B.1.640.2.

The preprint notes that, based on 12 reported cases, it is too early to speculate about the virological, epidemiological or clinical features of this variant of the coronavirus.

This study is still a preprint, that is, it has not yet been reviewed in scientific journals and has not received an assessment of the expert community, which would establish the truth or falsity of the research conclusions.