New Covid mutation BA.2.86 sparks alarm with fears of new explosion of cases
A new Covid variant has sparked alarm and put scientists on alert after a highly-mutated strain has been discovered in the US.
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a new Covid-19 strain BA.2.86 in Michigan was placed under the World Health Organisation's monitoring list on Thursday due to the "large number of mutations it carries."
Three cases of the new strain have been detected in Denmark and Israel along with the US. CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement: "Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the Covid-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these 4 cases and we will share more information as it becomes available."
Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist and lead for the Covid response at the WHO, said information on the new strain is limited as she claimed a number of mutations needed closer monitoring due to sheer number of changes.
She wrote on X, previously known as Twitter: "Surveillance, sequencing and Covid-19 reporting critical to track known and detect new variants."
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The strain has alerted scientists (Getty Images)The strain's number of genetic changes, compared to the original Omicron variant in 2021, has alerted scientists as cases have to started to increase worldwide. Its mutations could include dodge the body's immunity from prior infections or vaccination.
"Deep mutational scanning indicates BA.2.86 variant will have equal or greater escape than XBB.1.5 from antibodies elicited by pre-Omicron and first-generation Omicron variants," Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutch Cancer Centre, said yesterday.
The first case of BA.286 was reported by a lab at the University of Michigan. The sample was sequenced by the clinical microbiology lab during "baseline surveillance", although it remained unclear whether the samples were collected "from a patient in the health system run by the university or from another source".
The first case of BA.286 was reported by a lab at the University of Michigan (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, said testing and being vigilant was vital in the fight against the coronavirus. “We wouldn’t know if the virus is changing, in case we don’t test enough. Testing is vital to see how the virus is evolving,” he said.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the variant now accounts for around 17 per cent of current Covid-19 cases. Symptoms include headaches, fatigue, sneezing, a runny nose and a sore throat.
In the week beginning of July 30 to August 5, hospitalisations spiked by more than 14 per cent compared to the previous week. "As we learn more about BA.2.86, CDC's advice on protecting yourself from COVID-19 remains the same," the agency said.
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