MALAYSIA has identified and confirmed the existence of the South African variant of Covid-19 – the B.1.351 strain – among local Covid-19 positive cases.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the strain was detected through genomic surveillance by the Medical Research Institute on confirmed samples from January to March 31.

The samples were taken from local clusters, imported infections and those who have died of the virus.

“As of March 2020, a total of nine positive local cases have been identified with the South African strain,” he said in a statement.

This strain is believed to be more resistant to the Covid-19 vaccines currently available, and pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna are reported to have recently begun testing their vaccines against the B.1.351 strain.

Noor Hisham said the existence of the South African variant in Malaysia was first identified in four local cases this month.

“Two of these cases are believed to be from the Jalan Lima Cluster and involved an employee of a company based at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

“However, the mode of transmission or infection of the virus to such case workers is difficult to identify and confirm.”

Another case with the South African strain was from the Kebun Baru cluster, while the fourth involved the family member of a Covid-19 positive case living in the same house.

After the discovery of these four cases with the B.1.351 strain, more sampling and testing was done using Covid-19 positive samples from geographical locations including the Kuala Langat district and Sepang district.

The results showed five more cases with the strain detected in these localities.

Four were traced to the Kebun Baru Cluster and one to the Jalan Lima cluster.

He added that the Jalan Lima cluster ended on March 29 where 57 positive cases were detected after 447 individuals were screened.

However, he said the Kebun Baru cluster, which accumulated a total of 1,111 infections, is still active and is expected to end on April 25 if there are no more cases.   

Noor Hisham said the South African strain was found to have various “spike protein” mutations.

Noor Hisham said the Kuala Langat and Sepang District Health Office as well as the IMR will continue to perform viral genome sequencing from clinical samples to monitor the presence of this variant as well as other variants.

“From early January to the end of March, a total of 117 full genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were obtained for various Covid-19 mutations.

“Meanwhile, for the year 2020, a total of 144 genome sequences have been uploaded in the database system on the GISAID site. This action will continue to be actively implemented,” he said, referring to the global initiative for scientists to share genomic data on influenza viruses.

The South African strain was first reported in December 2020 in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Since early 2021, the existence of such variants has also been reported by other countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, and South Korea. – April 1, 2021.