Brazil has detected its first confirmed case of the highly transmissible coronavirus variant that was first identified in South Africa.

Scientists have cautioned that another new variant of the virus could be emerging in Brazil’s Belo Horizonte city. The Federal University of Minas Gerais stated that two samples from the city included a set of 18 mutations not seen previously, which included some in the same genes modified by the South African variant and the P.1 variant which is already prevalent in Brazil.

The woman in Sao Paulo state who is now confirmed as infected by the South African variant was first identified as a possible case of a new local variant. Additional analysis confirmed it to be the first local case of the variant widely prevalent in South Africa… (Reuters, April 7, 2021)