NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 9 – The Delta variant of coronavirus has emerged as the most widespread variant of concern in the country accounting for most of the 751 cases linked to highly transmissible variants.
Health Director General Patrick Amoth on Thursday said laboratories had also picked Alpha and Beta, also listed as variants of concern by the World Health Organization.
Speaking during a round table meeting with journalists in Nairobi, Amoth said the three variants had been picked from more than 2,700 coronavirus genome sequences had been conducted by the Ministry of Health.
“The Delta Variant is the new sheriff in town. It has pushed all other variants and is the main variant in circulation that is driving our fourth wave of the pandemic. The natural evolutionary process of the virus is bound to happen and that is why we are on the lookout,” he said.
He said that sequencing of the data has been crucial to scientists studying the origins of COVID-19 outbreaks and the movement of viral variants across parts of the country.
“We continue to offer surveillance for other new and emerging variants. One of the new variants is the Mu variant that was first was detected in Colombia, Latin America. It has now spread to more than 39 countries,” he said.
“It is a variant of concern because it shows a constellation of mutations which are compatible with increased transmissibility, potential for increased severe disease and vaccine escape.”
Mu, known scientifically as B.1.621, has been classified as a “variant of interest”, by WHO and has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines although further studies are needed to better understand it.
There is widespread concern over the emergence of new virus mutations as infection rates surge globally again, with the highly transmissible Delta variant taking hold — especially among the unvaccinated — and in regions where anti-virus measures have been relaxed.
Current sequencing labs in Kenya include:
• Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) -Wellcome Trust , Kilifi,
• KEMRI-Walter Reed – Kisumu
• KEMRI Headquarters – Nairobi,
• International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) – Nairobi
The Ministry of Health is working with partners to establish additional sequencing capacity in public health laboratories not only for COVID-19 but also other pandemics in future.
