China has identified a European strain of coronavirus in the Beijing outbreak. But is there a distinct European strain and does this mean the virus might not have originally come from Wuhan?
The Straits Times asked two experts on Friday (June 19) for their views.
Dr Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, deputy executive director (research), Bioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star)
Q: What is this new strain and what are the implications?
A: The strain continues to be very similar to previous strains. However, it has a small number of genetic markers that let us conclude that this is not a virus from the first wave or directly from the Wuhan outbreak. It indeed is more similar to viruses that caused outbreaks in Europe, but there are many countries in the world where such viruses are found too.
This virus strain is a further evolution but still a descendant of the original virus identified at the start of the Wuhan outbreak and has just acquired tiny genetic markers that were also often found in Europe. You can think of it as a postcard that was sent from Wuhan to other places and acquired a few stamps on the way so you know where it has been before coming back to China.
Professor Wang Linfa, director, programme in emerging infectious diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School
Q: What's your view on the strain identified by Chinese scientists?
A: I would not call it a new strain. With over eight million people infected, there is going to be a lot of virus variants, but most of them will disappear quickly. So this Europe-like variant may or may not last.
Q: The current outbreak originated and was spread from outside China, and - if correct - does this mean Covid-19 may not necessarily have originated in Wuhan?
A: No, they are not saying that and nobody can say that. Among the tens of thousands of genome sequences published, you have the different virus variants with different geographic "flavours".
So the variant with the "European flavour" does not mean it originated in Europe, it just means it is more dominant in the European population. And the data only refers to the potential origin of the current outbreak and has no bearing on the original Wuhan outbreak.
