It has been more than a year since the Coronavirus disease, which originated in China spread across the world and taken life and a toll on the world economy. No part of the populated world has remained immune from the spread of the virus. From tribal groups in Amazon to Great Andaman tribes to Vanuatu, the virus has spread far and wide.

As the world is grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic, new mutants were discovered in UK, South Africa, and Nigeria and most recently in Japan.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan reported the new variant of the Coronavirus. This new mutant is similar to the ones earlier detected in the UK and South Africa and was found in four infected people who arrived in from Brazil. One out of the four showed no symptoms upon arrival in Japan, but later developed breathing difficulties. Fever and headache are other symptoms in the infection from the Japanese variant.

Brazil reported the first case of re-infection with the UK variant, while in India, the total number of cases of infection (with the UK mutant) went up to 90.  It has been reported that eight of the new cases of infection from the UK mutant Covid19 strain are more infectious and are new. The new mutant (originating from UK) has caused a surge in the caseload in UK.

Brazil has also reported reinfection case from the South African variant of the Coronavirus.

Overview of the UK mutaant

In the south-east of UK, the cases of Covid19 were becoming prevalent despite restrictions and lockdown being imposed.  British epidemiologists discovered the new mutation which was found to be the reason for the surges in cases in the south east of UK.

In a test of a patient from Kent, the Covid19 Genomics UK consortium found out the new variant with 23 mutations which have caused the virus to become more communicable, which means that it is more proficient in human to human transmission.

The BRN (Basic reproduction number) identified as R0 gives an idea of number of cases resulting from a single case. The BRN- Basic reproduction number or R0 for the UK mutant is from 1.1-1.5.  That led to the world isolating the UK. The New mutant virus is designated as B 117. To identify the time of its origin the mutant is also given a designation of VUI – 202012/01 standing for the first variant under investigation in December 2020.

Seventeen of the mutations, the virus seems to have gathered all at once. Out of these 17, 8 mutations are specifically for the genes that encode the spike proteins. These spike proteins help the virus to attach to the cell surface in the host bodies. Two of spike proteins which have undergone mutations are particularly problematic. One is the N501Y strengthen the tight binding of the spikes to the ACE 2- receptor. (ACE-2 stands for Angiotensin converting Enzyme-2) The SARS-CoV-2 S1 spike protein mutation N501Y, an amino acid replacement mutation, alters the protein interactions with both human ACE2 and human derived antibody. The N501Y mutation denotes the replacement of Asparagine with Tyrosine at the 501^st amino acid location on the viral genome.

The other is the 69-70deletion mutation, which causes the loss or deletion of two amino acids and is particularly found in the viruses which elude the immune response in immuno-compromised patients. One of the important things about the spread of the UK mutant strain is that it is prevalent in areas with overall higher incidence of Covid19. The UK mutant has also been detected in France, Spain, Lebanon, Italy, Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.

Also see: New Mutants of Coronavirus

Overview of the Nigerian & South Africa mutants

The Nigerian mutant of Covid19 has the 501 mutation under the same lineage as the B117 lineage of the UK mutant. The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is seeing faster transmission due to the P681H mutation.  This mutation is the replacement of Proline with Histidine at the 681^st amino acid site. The Covid variant in South Africa apart from the N501Y spike protein mutation, also has the E484K and K417N mutations. E484K means replacement of Glutamic Acid with Lysine at the 484^th amino acid site and the K417N denotes replacement of Lysine with Asparagine at the 417^th site. These two mutations are also in the spike proteins. The African variants are identified as the 501.v2 or version 2. The E484K mutation has also been detected in infection cases in Mumbai Metropolitan region. Another worrisome factor is that the virus with the E484K mutation escapes the Immune system by fooling three antibodies.

A Bangalore based epidemiologist, Dr. Giridhar Babu from Public Health Foundation  of India, stated that had the mutant with E484K-mutation come into India earlier, it would have spread like wildfire.

These mutations are representative of the capacity of the virus to undergo mutations across the world, sometimes independently. They denote the evolving phylogenetic tree of the virus. Such mutations allow the virus to get transmitted unhindered through the population if precautions like social distancing are overlooked, especially in regions with high population density and mobility.

Though restrictions have been placed, countries especially South Africa remains somewhat in a festive mood.  In India, infection cases of these mutations have been found. Hence, India should also continue to take precautions like social distancing and complete genome sequencing of the people who come into the country.

With regards to travel issues caused by the mutant virus across the world, India has recently partially lifted the ban of flights from UK and this situation will hold on till January 30. But the complete genome sequencing & the 7-day institutional quarantine (for people coming from UK) will continue for incoming passengers.

In this context, the Covid19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech seems to be working against the mutants originating from the UK and the South Africa, meaning that the vaccine is effective against the N501Y mutation in the spike protein.