Bulgaria, a UK variant of the coronavirus with a mutation similar to the Brazilian one was detected, the director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Prof. Todor Kantardzhiev told BNT on May 20. The new variant is not more dangerous, but has a higher transmission rate, Prof. Kantardzhiev explained. This mutation is typical for the Brazilian variant and has been proven to be related to the faster spread of the coronavirus and pathogenesis, explained Assoc. Prof. Ivan Ivanov. However, he clarified that it is not the Brazilian variant, but a mutation in the UK variant. For the time being, the variant has been detected in an elderly man from Sofia, who became ill at the end of April and died, the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases announced.