Authorities of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) have identified three different variants of the deadly COVID-19 in Liberia, with their level of infectious potencies.
According to the health authorities, as of April 20, 2021 sequenced COVID-19 samples from Liberia have indicated three variants circulating in Liberia: B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), B.1.525 (variant of interest) and the B.1.1.318 (still under scientific observation).
They indicated that B.1.1.7, known as the Alpha variant, which derives from the United Kingdom (UK) is of concern, and is the dominant strain found in samples sequenced from Liberia. According to the health experts, this variant is the main cause of increased hospitalization and death in the country.
The second variant, B.1.525, is the variant of interest, and its transmissibility is lesser than the Alpha strain and does not show increased hospitalization and death.
The last variant, B.1.1.318, according to the health authorities, is still under scientific and epidemiological investigation.
Before the disclosure by the health authorities, there were speculations that Liberia is being ravaged by the variant from India, B.1.617.2 (Delta plus variant, also known as AY.1).
The Delta plus variant, first found in India in April, has been detected in around 40 samples from six districts in three states of India: Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. At least 16 of these samples were found in Maharashtra, one of the states hardest hit by the pandemic.
Delta plus has also been found in nine other countries: USA, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, Russia and China, compared to the original highly contagious Delta strain, which has now spread to 80 countries.
Health experts around the world have confirmed that viruses mutate all the time and most changes are inconsequential, as some even harm the virus. But others can make the disease more infectious or threatening, and the mutations tend to dominate.
A mutation is elevated from a “variant of interest” to a “variant of concern” when it shows evidence of fulfilling at least one of several criteria, including easy transmission, more severe illness, reduced neutralization by antibodies or reduced effectiveness of treatment and vaccines.
But leading virologists have questioned the labeling of Delta plus as a variant of concern, saying there was no data yet to prove that the variant was more infectious or led to more severe disease compared to other variants.
“Even with 166 examples of Delta plus shared on GISAID, a global open sharing database, we don’t have much reason to believe this is any more dangerous than the original Delta,” Dr. Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, noted.