The first case of a COVID-19 strain that could possibly be more transmissible and immune to vaccines has been found in Ireland as the R rate rises.
The B1525 variant, which has been found in the US, Canada, Australia and Denmark, is linked to travel from Nigeria and could possibly have originated in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Little is currently known about the variant but there are fears that it will spread quicker and the vaccines currently being used worldwide will be less effective against it.
The worrying update came as Dr Philip Nolan announced that the R rate has risen in Ireland from 0.4 to 0.7 up to as high as 0.6 to 0.9 - despite lockdown.
He said the increase had to do with the increased transmission of the UK "Kent" variant of the disease.
Last night, Dr Cillian de Gascun also confirmed that a case of the new variant has been found in Ireland but that its origin could not be confirmed.
The strain has been found to contain an E484 amino acid change which has been found to reduce the amount of antibodies the body produces against the coronavirus.
That weakened response could have a negative impact on the effectiveness of vaccines.
It also has the deletion of a spike protein, similarly found in the UK B117 variant, which has previously been linked with increased transmissibility and accounts for 92% of cases in Ireland.
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