May 2 2021 Malaysian Health Minister Azam announced Tuesday that the country’s health department has detected the B.1.1.617.1 virus in a confirmed case of Coronavirus in India. This is the first case of infection with this mutated virus found in Malaysia.
Azam said in a statement issued on the same day, the case was found at Kuala Lumpur International Airport screening of incoming passengers, and then the case of genome-wide sequencing detected B.1.1.617.1 virus.
The double-variant virus, first discovered in India on April 27, is thought to be one of the reasons for the recent surge in cases in India and may have spread in several countries around the world.
Azam also noted that Malaysia has also recently detected the B.1.1.7 virus in the UK for the first time in cases where there has never been an outbound travel history, suggesting that the virus may have been circulating in Malaysia.
