Mu variant found in every US state bar Nebraska, with Florida and California suffering highest numbers

‘This variant has a constellation of mutations that suggests that it would evade certain antibodies, not only monoclonal antibodies, but vaccine,’ says Dr Anthony Fauci

The Mu coronavirus variant has been recorded in 49 US states, with Florida and California reporting the highest numbers of Mu infections.

Scientists have warned that this new variant of Covid could be more transmissible than even the Delta variant, and could be vaccine resistant.

California has recorded 384 Mu variant cases, with 167 cases contained in Los Angeles County area.

Until recently, Alaska had the highest number of Mu cases, with 146 people testing positive for the variant. With its relatively small population, of 730,000 people, Mu made up four per cent of the state’s sample size.

The strain was first identified in Colombia in January and has since been identified in 42 countries.

Only 1 per cent of Covid samples across the US contain the Mu variant, while the Delta variant represented 99 per cent of cases.

Mu is not an “immediate threat”, said Dr Anthony Fauci, in a news conference. But scientists will be “keeping a very close eye on it”.

“This variant has a constellation of mutations that suggests that it would evade certain antibodies, not only monoclonal antibodies, but vaccine- and convalescent serum-induced antibodies,” he said.

Mu only accounts for 2,000 cases across the US, as of Tuesday, according to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data.

LA County Public Health issued a statement explaining more work is needed to tell what we are dealing with: “More studies are needed to determine whether Mu variant is more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccine and treatments than other Covid-19 strains,” it said.

Director Barbara Ferrer, from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, stressed the importance of getting vaccinated: “The identification of variants like Mu, and the spreading of variants across the globe, highlights the need for LA County residents to continue to take measures to protect themselves and others.

“This is what makes getting vaccinated and layering protections so important. These are actions that break the chain of transmission and limits Covid-19 proliferation that allows for the virus to mutate into something that could be more dangerous.”