OSU Researchers Find New COVID-19 Virus Variant In Ohio

There’s a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 in Ohio.

Scientists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine announced the discovery in a press release Wednesday morning (January 13). Findings are under review to be published in BioRxiv.

Although the new variant “carries a mutation identical to the U.K. strain,” it likely came from a virus strain that was already present in the U.S. There’s also an evolution of another strain with three gene mutations that haven’t been seen together before, the release states. It appears to have become the dominant virus in Columbus between late December into January.

“This new Columbus strain has the same genetic backbone as earlier cases we’ve studied, but these three mutations represent a significant evolution,” said study leader Dr. Dan Jones, vice chair of the division of molecular pathology. “We know this shift didn’t come from the U.K. or South African branches of the virus…Viruses naturally mutate and evolve over time, but the changes seen in the last two months have been more prominent than in the first months of the pandemic.”

Jones’ team has been conducting genetic sequencing and will continue monitoring changes as vaccines are distributed and administered.

Discovering the variant in Columbus — COH.20G/501Y — could mean the variant is happening on its own in several parts of the world, according to the release.

“The big question is whether these mutations will render vaccines and current therapeutic approaches less effective,” said Peter Mohler, a co-author of the study and chief scientific officer at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and vice dean for research at the College of Medicine. “At this point, we have no data to believe that these mutations will have any impact on the effectiveness of vaccines now in use.”

“It’s important that we don’t overreact to this new variant until we obtain additional data,” Mohler added. “We need to understand the impact of mutations on transmission of the virus, the prevalence of the strain in the population and whether it has a more significant impact on human health. Further, it is critical that we continue to monitor the evolution of the virus so we can understand the impact of the mutant forms on the design of both diagnostics and therapeutics. It is critical that we make decisions based on the best science.” 

Photo: Getty Images


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