SARS-CoV-2 Mu variant

The Mu variant (B.1.621) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2. It was first detected in Colombia in January 2021 and was classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a variant of interest on August 30, 2021. On March 9, 2022, the organization has de-escalated the Mu variant and its subvariants to previously circulating variants of interest.

With outbreaks of the Mu variant reported in South America and Europe since detection, the WHO said the variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to the current vaccines and stressed that further studies are needed to better understand it.

The B.1.621 lineage has a sublineage, designated B.1.621.1 under the PANGO nomenclature, which has also been detected in multiple countries worldwide.