WHO-designated Variant of Interest 'Mu' Also Detected in Japan

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The 'Mu' variant, designated as a 'variant of interest' by the World Health Organization (WHO) for COVID-19, has been detected in Japan. This is the first time the Mu variant has been found in Japan.

According to NHK on the 2nd, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that it was belatedly confirmed that two people who tested positive for COVID-19 at airport quarantine stations between June and July were infected with the Mu variant.

The two Mu variant cases were identified as a woman in her 40s who entered Japan through Narita Airport from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 26, and a woman in her 50s who arrived at Haneda Airport from the United Kingdom on July 5.

Takaji Wakita, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan, said, "Various variants of COVID-19 are emerging," and added, "We need to strengthen information gathering to prepare for the possibility that new variants may spread and replace existing viruses."

On the 31st of last month, WHO named the 'B.1.621' variant virus, first reported in Colombia in January this year, as the Mu variant and designated it as a variant of interest in its weekly COVID-19 report.

WHO manages COVID-19 variants by designating those that require special attention based on transmissibility, symptoms, vaccine effectiveness, etc., as 'variants of concern' and 'variants of interest.'

Currently, there are four variants of concern: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. The variants of interest, which are one level below, include Eta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, and the recently designated Mu, making a total of five.

So far, the Mu variant has been reported in 39 countries, mainly in South America and Europe.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.