stock futures slumped Friday as global markets plunged, after scientists detected a new COVID variant in South Africa that could be the blame for a recent dramatic spike in cases.

The discovery of the new COVID variant was announced on Friday by South Africa’s health minister Joe Phaahla.

He said scientists were concerned because of its high number of mutations and the dramatic spike in infections the country had seen over the past four or five days.

Speaking at an online press conference, he said the variant, known as B.1.1.529 and expected to be called the Nu variant, had also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers who had visited South Africa, he said.

The World Health Organization’s technical working group is holding an emergency meeting to assess the variant, as scientists aren’t sure whether is more deadly or just more contagious.

“The one bull in the China shop that could truly derail the global recovery has always been a new strain of Covid-19 that swept the world and caused the reimposition of mass social retractions,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, at OANDA, in a note.

After new cases appeared to stabilize at 200 a day, South Africa reported more than 1,200 on Wednesday and 2,465 on Thursday.

Scientists and health officials are concerned that such a highly mutating variant could escape vaccines.

slumped 6% to $73.62 a barrel on perceived fears of falling demand amid the new variant

Also South Africa is one of the world leaders in sequencing so we are more likely to see this sort of news originate from there than many countries

But the week had been simmering with concerns about rising COVID cases in Europe and new restrictions

Fear of a new variant was overshadowing the Black Friday shopping day, which puts the focus on retailers as consumers shop for bargains