PETALING JAYA: Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said Covid-19 samples from the Benteng cluster in Sabah were found to have the D614G mutation found in samples taken from clusters in Kedah.
He said the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) conducted genome sequencing tests on 32 Covid-19 samples from the Benteng cluster (23 samples), PUI Sivagangga cluster (four samples), Tawar cluster (three samples), Sungai cluster (one sample) and Bukit Tiram cluster (one sample).
“As suspected, the D614G mutation was detected in all 32 samples of the virus.
“All 23 Covid-19 samples from the Benteng cluster were found to be similar but not related to the Covid-19 virus found in Kedah (PUI Sivagangga, Tawar and Sungai clusters), although all of them have the D614G mutation,” said Noor Hisham on his Facebook page.
IMR detected the D614G mutation in August, stating it was 10 times easier to infect other individuals if passed by a “super spreader”.
The health ministry first reported the Sivagangga cluster on July 28, saying it originated from a restaurant owner and permanent resident who had returned to Jitra, Kedah, from India on July 13.
The Benteng cluster, meanwhile, was detected on Sept 2 after 50 illegal immigrants were apprehended during the multi-agency monitoring of illegal smuggling routes under Ops Benteng.
Subsequent Covid-19 screenings at the Lahad Datu police headquarters found seven tested positive, with the infection then spreading to Tawau prison – some 150km away.
Noor Hisham previously said the D614G mutation was likely to render any study on a vaccine to be incomplete or ineffective against it.
