Scientists have announced the discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus in Brazil, which has already been detected in 21 municipalities in São Paulo, one of the states most affected by the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 450,000 people across the country. The Brazilian Society of Virology has named the new strain (P.4) and stated in a report that it contains a mutation in the spike protein—a part of the virus that attaches to human cells— which is also found in the Indian strain (B.1.617).
Source of the Strain
Researchers suspect that the source of strain (P.4) may be (P.1), which was discovered in the city of Manaus (Amazon state) and has been deemed a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since its identification on May 4th, the (P.4) strain has been observed in 21 municipalities in São Paulo.
Three Times More Infectious
Currently, there is no information regarding whether this new strain is more transmissible than (P.1), which is considered three times more infectious, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and caused the healthcare system to collapse in many parts of the country between March and April. There is also no indication of whether it is more lethal than the original versions of the virus.
This new discovery coincides with a rise in COVID-19 cases in the Latin American country, which has reported 452,031 deaths and 16.2 million infections in just 15 months. Brazil, with a population of 212 million, is the second most affected country in terms of deaths related to the disease, following the United States, and has the third highest number of infections after the United States and India.
