What is Mu mutation: All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, constantly change through mutations and new variants of a virus are expected to develop. Sometimes most mutations have little to no effect on the properties of the virus, but certain mutations can impact and influence how easily it spreads. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring a new coronavirus variant known as "Mu", which was first identified in Colombia in January, and has the potential to become more transmissible. Now, the global health body confirmed that they are yet to find out the severity of the disease it causes, however, noted that the variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines.
COVID-19 virus first emerged in Wuhan at the end of 2019. After spreading across countries far more easily, new and improved variants have been notably evolving. One of those is Mu, known scientifically as B.1.621, which has been classified as a "variant of interest". Its development can lead to a situation where the Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape.