A new COVID-19 variant has been identified from Nigeria. 

As of Tuesday, there were 38 cases of the Nigerian variant identified in the United Kingdom. 

The B1525 strain of coronavirus was first detected in Nigeria in December. 

Simon Clarke of the University of Reading told The Guardian, “We don’t yet know how well this [new] variant will spread, but if it is successful it can be presumed that immunity from any vaccine or previous infection will be blunted.”

The variant contains the 484K mutation, found in the South African and Brazilian variants, believed to evade the natural and vaccine-triggered antibodies that try to stop the virus. 

Generally, severe signs and symptoms associated with COVID-19 include shortness of breath and pneumonia. Other symptoms include a sore throat, runny nose, headaches, and chest pain. 

However, Public Health England stated that it was monitoring data on the emerging COVID-19 variants and would take the necessary measures such as extra testing and contact tracing. 

The strain has been labelled a “variant under investigation” by the organisation, but it insisted there was no evidence that the Nigerian strain spreads faster or is more deadly than other variants.