New mutation may speed coronavirus spread: US govt health expert

Minneapolis: The novel coronavirus is showing some signs of mutating in a way that may make it easier for the pathogen to spread, according to Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

There is research underway that suggests a single mutation affecting a specific amino acid is emerging that allows the virus to replicate better and create a higher viral load, measures that could make it easier to transmit, Fauci said at an online event hosted by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The news of a change that may hasten the spread of the virus around the world comes as the number of cases continues to surge globally, with more than 10.7 million people infected and 517,000 dead from the disease that was identified just six months ago. Many U.S. states are reconsidering efforts to reopen their economies, while countries in Latin America and elsewhere are getting pummeled with soaring infection levels.

There is some dispute about the findings, which stem from an in vitro examination of the mutations, and it’s not clear whether people who become infected with a newer variation of the pathogen fare worse than those with the original strain, he said.

“It just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible,” he said. “This is still at the stage of trying to confirm that.”