Pretoria (ST): Researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in South Africa have detected a new mutant of the Corona virus, which bears many of the features of the previous mutant such as alpha, beta and gamma.
According to the American CNN website, researchers are monitoring the mutant called C12, which appeared throughout South Africa and in 7 other countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and was discovered during the third wave of infections in South Africa last May.
The researchers confirmed that the C12 mutant carries variants that give it the ability to spread rapidly and evade the immune system’s response to some extent.
The researchers said: “We are currently evaluating the effect of this mutant in neutralizing antibodies after infection with corona or vaccination against it,” noting that they are not sure whether the new mutant will make the Corona virus more dangerous.
K.Q.