French researchers identify new 'IHU' Covid variant

French researchers have detected a new Covid variant and have temporarily named it IHU.

According to health officials, the variant has a total of 46 mutations.

Medical experts say the first case of the variant was identified in a vaccinated patient who had just returned from a trip to Cameroon, Africa.

So far, the IHU variant has infected 12 people in Marseille in Southern France.

As of now, the CDC hasn't classified IHU as a variant of interest.

Information about the variant was posted in a non peer-reviewed study here: 

Emergence in Southern France of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of probably Cameroonian origin harbouring both substitutions N501Y and E484K in the spike protein | medRxiv