This photograph taken on March 5, 2021 shows the sign of the World Health Organization (WHO) at their headquarters in Geneva amid the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
GENEVA 鈥� The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a variant of Covid-19 behind the acceleration of India鈥檚 explosive outbreak has been found in dozens of countries all over the world.
The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19, first found in India in October, had been detected in more than 4,500 samples uploaded to an open-access database 鈥渇rom 44 countries in all six WHO regions鈥�.
鈥淎nd WHO has received reports of detections from five additional countries,鈥� it said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.
Outside of India, it said that Britain had reported the largest number of Covid cases caused by the variant.
Earlier this week, the WHO declared B.1.617 鈥� which counts three so-called sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics 鈥� as a 鈥渧ariant of concern鈥�.
It was therefore added to the list containing three other variants of Covid-19 鈥� those first detected in Britain, Brazil and South Africa.
The variants are seen as more dangerous than the original version of the virus because they are either being more transmissible, deadly or able to get past some vaccine protections.
鈥楻apid increase鈥�
The WHO explained Wednesday that B.1.617 was added to the list because it appears to be transmitting more easily than the original virus, pointing to the 鈥渞apid increases in prevalence in multiple countries鈥�.
WHO also pointed to 鈥減reliminary evidence鈥� that the variant was more resistant to treatment with the monoclonal antibody Bamlanivimab, and also highlighted early lab studies indicating 鈥渓imited reduction in neutralization by antibodies鈥�.
It stressed, though, that 鈥渞eal-world impacts鈥� on the effectiveness of vaccines against the variant for instance 鈥渕ay be limited鈥�.
WHO said the spread of B.1.617, alongside other more transmittable variants, appeared to be one of several factors fueling India鈥檚 dramatic surge in new cases and deaths.
India 鈥� a country of 1.3 billion people 鈥� is the world鈥檚 second-most infected after the United States with nearly 23 million Covid-19 cases, and is currently recording more than 300,000 new cases and close to 4,000 deaths each day.
The new surge in cases has ravaged major cities, including the capital New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai, pushing hospitals to breaking point and leading to severe shortages in oxygen and beds.
鈥淲HO found that resurgence and acceleration of Covid-19 transmission in India had several potential contributing factors, including increase in the proportion of cases of SARS-CoV-2 variants with potentially increased transmissibility,鈥� it said.
It also pointed to 鈥渟everal religious and political mass gathering events which increased social mixing; and, under-use of and reduced adherence to public health and social measures鈥�.
鈥淭he exact contributions of each of these factors on increased transmission in India are not well understood.鈥�
WHO stressed that so far, only 0.1 percent of positive Covid tests in India had been genetically sequenced and uploaded to the GISAID database to identify the variant in question.
By the end of April, B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 accounted for 21 and seven percent respectively of all sequenced samples from India, it said.
In addition, other more contagious variants are also spreading in the country, including B.1.1.7, which was first detected in Britain.