6 February 2021 | New Scientist | 7SOME coronavirus variants
are becoming increasingly
concerning as they mutate.
Samples of the more transmissible
B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which
was first detected in the UK, show
that it has acquired a mutation
that will help it evade immune
protection. It is the same mutation
found in the B.1.351 variant first
identified in South Africa, which
is now spreading globally.
Local transmission of the
B.1.351 variant has been confirmed
in the US, in several European
countries including the UK, and
in Israel and much of sub-Saharan
Africa. It isn’t yet clear if it is more
transmissible, but it is certain that
it can partly evade the immunity
we develop from natural infection
by older coronavirus variants and
from vaccines. The big worry is
that it could evolve further andcompletely evade immunity,
undermining vaccination efforts.
Lab studies have shown that
a mutation called E484K helps
B.1.351 to evade antibodies.
This same mutation has now
been found in 11 B.1.1.7 viruses,
according to a UK government
document. It doesn’t say when or
where these viruses were found.
Ravindra Gupta at the
University of Cambridge and his
colleagues have already confirmed
that with the E484K mutation,
B.1.1.7 is better at evading immune
protection. In other words, it is
faster-spreading and also better
at evading immunity. If it isn’t
stopped, it could outcompete
the older B.1.1.7 variant, whichhas already spread to many
countries worldwide.
B.1.351 is also going global
despite efforts to halt its spread.
On 1 February, the UK announced
that it had found 11 cases that
couldn’t be linked to travel,
meaning it is spreading within
the local community. The UK
government is testing people in
eight areas of England, regardless
of symptoms, in an effort to find
and eliminate the variant.
The UK has identified 105 cases
of B.1.351 in total, but the rest were
linked to travel. Unfortunately, the
11 cases are probably just the tip of
the iceberg. The only way to detect
this variant is to sequence viral
samples, and only about 1 in 20The race is on to eliminate variants of the coronavirus that are more
transmissible and evade immune protection, says Michael Le PageUK variant gets nastier
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samples from people who test
positive are sequenced. What’s
more, many infected people
never get tested.
People entering England are
meant to self-isolate for 10 days,
but it is clear from the spread
of other variants during the
European summer that this isn’t
effective. Travel to the UK from
parts of Africa, South Americaand Portugal has now been
banned, and enforced isolation
in hotels will be introduced soon.
On 28 January, officials in
South Carolina reported B.1.
infections in two people with no
link to each other or South Africa.
The US sequences a smaller
proportion of viral samples than
the UK, so even more cases could
be going undetected there.
Local transmission has also
been reported in Belgium, Austria
and Israel, and in several countries
in Africa including Zambia,
Mozambique, Botswana and
Tanzania. Additionally, countries
including Australia, New Zealand,
China and Japan have detected
cases linked to travel, but haven’t
reported local spread.
With many countries doing
little or no sequencing, it is likely
that the B.1.351 variant is more
widespread than this. According to
Björn Meyer at the Pasteur
Institute in France, when the city
of Cologne in Germany increased
sequencing, it found that 5 per
cent of coronavirus infections
were due to the B.1.351 variant,
revealing that the virus was
already well established.
There is also concern about the
P.1 variant found in Brazil, which
has some of the same mutations
as the B.1.351 variant, including
E484K. So far, though, no local
transmission of P.1. has been
reported outside South America. ❚People queuing outside
a covid-19 testing centre
in Southport, UK“ The big worry is that
it could evolve further
and evade immunity,
undermining vaccinations”Daily coronavirus news round-up
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