A Covid-19 variant which may be vaccine-resistant has infected more than 50 people in Britain.
The Mu variant has already spread to all but one state in the US, and now 53 UK cases have been confirmed by Public Health England.
It’s not feared to be as transmissible as the Delta variant which fuelled Britain’s second wave last winter, but it appears to have the potential to be harmful.
Scientists said Mu contains the mutation E484K, which can escape antibodies gained as protection from the vaccine.
Warwick Medical School’s Professor Lawrence Young said Delta represented ‘peak infectiousness’ for Covid.
He told MailOnline he would be ‘very, very surprised’ if Mu or any other strain was even more transmissible.
But its vaccine-resistance could make it a health threat.
Prof Young added: ‘We may have reached peak infectiousness with the Delta variant but what we have not reached, of course, is peak immune avoidance.’
A Public Health England source said Mu is unlikely to be designated a ‘variant of concern’ just yet because of the low case numbers.
The Mu variant, which emerged in Colombia in January, accounts for 4,315 coronavirus cases globally, including 1,750 Americans.
Regional breakdowns show there has been 23 confirmed cases in London, seven in the East of England and six in the South East.
There have been three in each of the Midlands, North West and Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and one in the South West, Yorkshire and Wales.
The UK recorded its highest daily death count to Covid in six months yesterday.
Last night, Downing Street denied there are plans for a so-called firebreak lockdown over the October half-term in case of a surge in new infections.
MORE : Vaccine boss says boosters may not be needed and could put extra pressure on NHS
MORE : Highest death toll in six months as firebreak lockdown not ruled out
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