Nigeria identifies new variant of COVID-19 in samples collected in August: Report

"We however haven’t observed such rapid rise of the lineage in Nigeria and do not have sufficient evidence to indicate that the B.1.1.7 lineage is contributing to increased transmission of the virus in Nigeria."

The newly discovered variant of COVID-19 in the European Union and the United Kingdom has been identified by Nigerian scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), in Redeemers University Ede in Osun State, according to a report by Premium Times.

The confirmation of the new variant in Nigerian COVID-19 cases was reportedly signed by scientists via a publication in a global website, Virlological, for Genomics community, at the ACEGID, in South West Nigeria earlier on Monday.

As reported the same variant "lineage B.1.1.7", has been existing in the Nigerian state Osun since the first samples were collected on the 3rd of August. Followed by a second sampling in the month of October, which reportedly showed the presence of COVID-19's new variant.

As stated by the Professor of molecular biology and genomics, Christian Happi, also the Director at ACEGID, "the B.1.1.7 lineage we found in Nigeria, predating the one described in the UK, has also been observed to rise rapidly in the UK over the past four weeks, indicating the plausible increased spread of the virus by specific non-synonymous mutations in the spike protein."

However, with an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in December, Happi reportedly said in an interview that the new variant cannot be credited for the rise in number since October. Adding "we however haven't observed such rapid rise of the lineage in Nigeria and do not have sufficient evidence to indicate that the B.1.1.7 lineage is contributing to increased transmission of the virus in Nigeria," Happi mentioned.

As reportedly mentioned by the team at ACEGID, Happi cautioned the people of Nigeria to not panic but the new variant might be the cause for the rise of COVID-19 cases.

The team added, "at the moment, only about 1% of the genomes from Nigeria belong to the new SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.1.7 lineage) and one of them predates the first description in the UK. However, this might change in the next few weeks when we sequence more samples from the recently reported surge of covid-19 in Nigeria".

The report reads in part, "other reported mutations such as the N501Y, A570D, and the HV 69 – 70 deletion in the spike protein have not been detected in our genomes yet, this could also be associated with the non-increase of the lineage in Nigeria currently. In as much as the full effect of this mutation isn't known yet and it is still being studied, the importance of a robust genomic surveillance system cannot be overemphasized as we can identify and report changes in the genomes of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 that are of public health interest".