WHO Tracking New Covid Variant Found In 4 Countries; Says Its Highly Muted

The World Health Organization (WHO) has now recognized another sub-variant of Omicron BA.2.86, known as BA.X, after EG.5 raised worries about a fresh Covid variant. First discovered in Israel, BA.2.86 is a member of the BA.2 lineage of Omicron. The variant has only been identified in five cases thus far, in Denmark (2), Israel (1), the US (1), and the UK (1), and it has substantial mutations, raising concerns about additional Covid cases.

Variant under monitoring

The WHO designated it a variant under monitoring (VUM) after only three cases and demanded better surveillance of the variant to comprehend its spread and severity. “WHO has designated Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 as a ‘variant under monitoring’ today due to the large number of mutations it carries,” the global health body wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter),” adding that “the number of mutations warrants attention”.

“Very limited info available right now but large mutations, needs closer monitoring surveillance, sequencing & Covid19 reporting critical to track known/detect new variants,” added Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for Covid-19 response at WHO, in a post.

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WHO urges “better surveillance…” of Covid Variant

The WHO also urged “better surveillance, sequencing, and reporting” even though the Covid virus is still present and evolving. Dr. Vipin M. Vashishtha, member of WHO’s Vaccine Safety Net said, “It seems BA.2.86 is the real thing — now detected from London, England also. The 5th case in total.” “The seriousness of this issue can be gauged that WHO has already declared it a VUM, based on only 3 sequences,” he said.

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Sub variant is ‘Wild’

Shay Fleishon, an Israeli scientist who discovered BA.2.86 first, claims that the sub-variant is “wild.” According to Fleishon of the Weizmann Institute of Science, BA.2.86 was found in a patient who was neither chronically ill nor infected by a man who could spread the infection between hosts.

In a comparable manner, Denmark’s Statens Serum Institute reported on X that the two instances discovered in the nation were not “immunocompromised” and had “no epidemiological link.”  Additionally, there is no proof that the new variation causes serious sickness.