The highly contagious COVID-19 variant that first appeared in the UK appears to have evolved again to include a new “worrying” mutation, the researchers said.
Nearly a dozen cases have been identified that include a mutation known as E484K, which has already been identified in variants in South Africa and Brazil, the BBC reported.
“The most worrying mutation, which we call E484K, also occurred spontaneously in the new Kent strain in parts of the country,” Calum Semple, an outbreak medicine specialist who advises the UK government, told BBC radio.
The highly contagious mutation changes the shape of the virus’s spike protein – the part of the insect that makes it infectious.
Experts now fear that E484K has allowed strains from South Africa and Brazil to overtake the natural antibodies of those who have already recovered from infection in the first wave.
It also means that the mutation could mean that the strain is more resistant to antibody or plasma drugs from coronavirus survivors, which help people fight the virus, experts said.
Dr. Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, said the mutation for the UK variant “is a worrying development, although not entirely unexpected,” the BBC reported.
He urged people to follow blocking orders in the UK to prevent the virus from continuing to mutate and spread.
“Otherwise, the virus can not only continue to spread, it can also evolve,” said Tang.
Mutant cases in the United Kingdom were first detected in the English county of Kent, south east of London.
Public Health England said it was seen in 11 of the 214,159 samples tested, the BBC reported.