Scientists at Southern Illinois University have identified a third American variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 – and it may be the most contagious strain to date, the researchers said on Thursday.
The local mutation, dubbed 20C-US, is believed to be responsible for up to 50% of all cases in the United States – reaching the Midwest more strongly, the researchers said in a press release.
“It’s here. We found it,” said Keith Gagnon, associate professor of biochemistry at SIU Carbondale. “It’s definitely homemade and widespread.”
Gagnon said he and his team traced the bloodline to Texas, where it first appeared in May.
The mutation has a great ability to process viral proteins along with a strong “integrity of the RNA genome,” the researchers said – making it frighteningly efficient at spreading.
“It can be more easily transmitted than other variants, and its impact on vaccines is uncertain,” says the statement.
The discovery came a day after scientists at Ohio State University said they had discovered a different strain of the COVID-19 virus – which carries a mutation similar to the UK strain.
The results of the 20C-US study were published in the online journal bioRxiv.org on Wednesday.
“We anticipate that 20C-US may already be the most dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States,” says the article.
“The continued evolution of the 20C-US, as well as other region-specific dominant variants emerging around the world, should continue to be monitored.”
Fortunately, the variant of the virus has probably not spread significantly beyond US borders, according to the report.