Is there a new strain of the novel coronavirus? If so, what are some implications you foresee?

Right before I saw this question, I got an alert on my phone about a new strain.

The implication is that things will continue to be weird a lot longer than anticipated, and the “old normal” is a long way away.

I read a while back that different strains are infecting different areas and is part of the reason we are seeing regions being impacted differently.

We’ve seen 7 tigers, a lion and a dog, plus domestic house cats testing positive now, so I’m concerned not only for people but for animals and livestock aka food supply.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html

I personally am thinking nothing of it. The scientists seem to agree for now that the mutations aren’t significant and don’t affect trying to develop a vaccine.

I heard from somewhere (and didn’t google so I have no link) that the strain that affected the East coast is different than the strain that affected the West coast (of the US). The East coast strain was from Europe and the West coast strain was from China.

With this new strain, I am just feeling like we’ll never get ahead of it.

According to this article viruses tend to mutate into less deadly forms. It may be in the best long term interest of the virus if does not show symptoms.

Thank you all for your responses! Since it’s a small thread and I haven’t seen you all in a while, I’ll respond to each of you :)

@zenvelo—I don’t think I appreciated how far away the “old normal” would be once the virus arrived in my area… I think when I was first asking this question I was worried that we’d collectively get fatigued, let our social distancing practices slide, and the more contagious strain would have a field day… But you’re right, it’s just that we’re going to be dealing with this for longer. People have stamina, and people adapt. We’ll keep at it.

It’s easy for me to forget what a small portion of the population the social distancing protestors really are, with how much attention they’re receiving. It’s reassuring to remember that the vast majority of people are sensible about this.

@ARE_you_kidding_me—I wonder if this article is covering the published form of the data you read about earlier? Or maybe this has been figured out by multiple researchers?... I wonder, too, if that’s why LA is having a harder time of it on the west coast right now (the article didn’t have any information for CA specifically). I don’t know much about why their numbers have been believed to be higher. My area is lucky we seemingly have the original strain right now.

@KNOWITALL—that many! I’d lost track… Do you (or anyone else) know why this virus is transmissible between species? From my very rudimentary knowledge of disease transmission, I thought that it was generally hard for diseases to jump from species to species… (I suppose it’s yet another reason why people in food production jobs need better workplace protections than they’ve been getting?)

@JLeslie—good to know, the article I read left open the possibility that the new strain may not work with vaccines for the old strain, but I didn’t know how likely that possibility was (or whether it was a bit of focusing on the less-likely-but-more-sensational version of events).

@jca2—that’s what the article I read said, too. It would help in part explain NY’s situation… What do we need to do to get ahead of it?

@LostInParadise—that’s probably the most optimistic long-term outlook I’ve heard! I’ve heard discussions where people ask what the future looks like with this virus out there, but they all assumed the virus would remain as it is now… I didn’t realize the Spanish Flu became our seasonal H1N1.

@Soubresaut Interesting article about it and what they do NOT say is that they don’t know if an animal can become a host and re-introduce to humans. Imagine all the domestic animals and how many of us are in constant contact.

‘Coronaviruses are known to infect mammals and birds, including dogs, chickens, cattle, pigs, cats, pangolins, and bats. The global health crisis likely started with a coronavirus-infected horseshoe bat in China. From there, the germ possibly jumped to an intermediary species, then jumped to humans.
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One way virologists can try to predict potential host species is by using 3D computer modelling. For the virus to enter a cell to replicate, a spike-shaped protein it has must bind neatly with an enzyme receptor on the surface of certain animal cells, according to a recent discovery. The receptor, called an ACE2 protein, is the doorknob, and the spike protein is the key that unlocks it. Three-dimensional computer modelling can help figure out which animals have ACE2s that can be “unlocked” by the virus’s spike protein.
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By comparing ACE2 receptors, a March 2020 study identified a number of species that the virus might be able to infect, including pangolins, cats, cows, buffalo, goats, sheep, pigeons, civets, and pigs.’

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/coronavirus-animal-reservoir-research/#close

@Soubresaut Supposedly, the vaccine would target the part of the virus that is the door to invading our cells and then begin replicating. The mutations are just the color paint on the door, but not affecting how the door opens. I heard that analogy from a scientist on TV.

I would be surprised if there was not a new strain. SARS-Cov-2 is an RNA virus which is especially susceptible to mutation as RNA viruses are inherently more unstable than DNA viruses. In the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic (which did not originate in Spain, but Kansas) there were multiple strains causing different levels of pathogenicity. The flu virus (also an RNA virus) mutates every year and is called “antigen drift”. Vaccine manufacturers try to predict how the antigen will drift based upon genetic evaluation of prior flu seasons. That’s why the flu vaccine is only partially effective from year to year.

Anyway, what the real question should be is not if there are new strains, but do the strains all have a component protein that is consistent and could be used as a reliable antigen for vaccine production. If, say, the so-called “spike protein” is conserved between strains, then it really doesn’t matter how it mutates. As long as the antigen is conserved, then an effective vaccine could be produced.

@Caravanfan—Thank you for your knowledge! Is it also ordinary/expected for new strains to be more contagious? (I know that it would clearly be more advantageous to be more contagious, just wondering if it’s also typical.)

@Caravanfan So, it’s a retrovirus right? That term was used a lot when HIV is new, maybe it’s an old term. Do we have vaccines for any retroviruses?

@JLeslie Corona is not a retrovirus.

^^I thought maybe since it is an RNA virus that uses our cells to replicate that maybe it was a retrovirus, but I didn’t know for sure.

Retroviruses cause Cancers HiV/AIDs.

@Soubresaut In the Spanish Flu epidemic, some strains were more contagious and some were less. The first strain was mild. The second was severe, the third was milder.

@JLeslie Not a retrovirus.