A new strain of the coronavirus has been discovered in Nigeria.
According to a research paper obtained by the Associated Press, the variant was found on two patient samples in Nigeria’s Osun state collected on Aug. 3 and Oct. 9. It appears to be distinct from the new variants recently discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “It’s a separate lineage from the U.K. and South Africa. Give us some time … it’s still very early.”
He added that it was not yet known if the new strain caused more symptoms, but he said that it does transmit quicker.
That seems to be at odds with the authors of the research paper.
“We … do not have evidence to indicate that the … variant is contributing to increased transmission of the virus in Nigeria,” they wrote. Yet the authors also noted the low level of genomic surveillance in Nigeria “may imply a reduced power to detect such changes.”
Cases have been surging in Africa recently, with Nigeria, the largest country on the continent, seeing an increase in cases of 52% in the last month.
New strains of the virus recently discovered in the U.K. and South Africa have led to new lockdowns and travel restrictions. On Wednesday, the British government confirmed that coronavirus cases with the South African strain had been discovered in the U.K.
