A new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in four travelers from the Brazilian state of Amazonas, the Japanese Ministry of Health announced on Sunday, the latest new mutation of the virus discovered.
A ministry official said studies are underway on the effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant, which differs from the highly infectious variants first discovered in Britain and South Africa which have resulted in an increase in cases . “At this time, there is no evidence showing that the new variant found in those in Brazil is rich in infectivity,” said Takaji Wakita, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, during a ministry briefing. of Health.
Still, the Brazilian health ministry said it was informed by Japanese authorities that the new variant has 12 mutations, and one of these has already been identified also in variants found in the UK and South Africa. South. “This implies a higher potential viral infectivity,” he said. Of the four travelers who arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on January 2, a man in his 40s had difficulty breathing, a woman in her 30s had a headache and throat pain, and a teenage man had pain. fever, while a woman’s teenage boys had no symptoms, the health ministry said.
All travelers are in quarantine at Tokyo airport, Brazil’s health ministry said.
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