The first case was identified in an individual who recently returned to the country from Cameroon.
A new variant of the coronavirus named as B.1.640.2. It was found in the south of France.
An estimated 12 people have been infected with the new variant, showing “an atypical combination” in their tests, reports the newspaper Le Matin . The first case was identified in an individual who recently returned to the country from Cameroon.
The existence of the new variant was first detected by the doctors of IHU Infection Méditerranéenne in Marseille in early December. The specialists announced the identification of a new strain in patients from the commune of Forcalquier in the department of the Alpes de Haute Provence.
Un nouveau variant COVID-19 à été détecté à l’IHU Méditerranée Infection issu de patients de Forcalquier. Il a été baptisé variant IHU et déposé sur GISAID sous le nom de B.1.640.2. pic.twitter.com/Rh3klIxy0w
— IHU Méditerranée Infection (@IHU_Marseille) December 9, 2021
A pre-printed article , written by experts from a French government-backed program and due for peer review, estimates that the new variant contains 46 mutations. At the moment, there is no detail about the variant’s transferability.
The news comes after France registered a record number of infections at the end of 2021 due to the spread of the omicron variant. Thus, on December 29, some 208,000 new cases were reported. However, now the statistics have fallen and this Monday 67,461 infected have been counted.
