A mutated strain of Covid-19 that developed in Europe outcompeted the original Wuhan strain and now ... [+] dominates worldwide. gettyKey FactsResearchers in Japan and the U.S. compared the now dominant mutant strain, which was believed to originate in Europe, with the one that first emerged in Wuhan, China, to see what enabled the mutant took over. While earlier studies have shown that the mutated virus is more efficient at getting into human cells, this study shows that it is also more easily transmitted and grows better within hosts. Mutations, which are both natural and frequent, could threaten those under development by changing specific parts of the virus that they hope to target. Denmark ordered the cull of its entire mink herd for this reason, with at least 214 people infected with mink-related Covid-19 since June, though this order was later deemed unlawful.

Source: Forbes November 13, 2020 18:22 UTC