France detects new COVID-19 variant ‘IHU’, more infectious than Omicron

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Scientists in France. have identified a potentially worrying new variant, which has 46 mutations. Named IHU, the new B.1.640.2 variant has so far infected 12 people living in southeastern France. The first case was linked to a person with a travel history to Cameroon.
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The B.1.640.2 or IHU variant was first identified by the academics at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection and contains 46 mutations, which is more than Omicron. This new variant can be a major thre*t, however, the cases have not been reported so far in countries other than France and is not labelled as ‘variant under investigation’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO).