New COVID causing variant tracked in the US, Denmark and Israel by US CDC
US' Center for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking the lineage of the new mutated variant of COVID causing coronavirus.
As we learn more about BA.2.86, CDC’s advice on protecting yourself from COVID-19 remains the same. https://t.co/DmfPOAPMjW
— CDC (@CDCgov) August 18, 2023
WHO states that only a small number of sequences of the variation have thus far been reported in a small number of nations.
👉More data are needed to understand this #COVID19 variant and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention. WHO will update countries and the public as we learn more.
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 17, 2023
This new lineage has 36 mutations (variations) from the XBB.1.5 COVID variant, which is currently prevalent. Dr.S. Wesley Long, Houston Methodist's medical director of diagnostic microbiology, said that it "harkens back to an earlier branch."
Whether BA.2.86 will defeat other virus strains or evade immune reactions from earlier infections or vaccinations needs to be seen.
The new version "will have equal or greater escape than XBB.1.5 from antibodies elicited by pre-Omicron and first-generation Omicron variants," according to preliminary data, according to Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
Notably, the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 will be the focus of the vaccinations in subsequent COVID booster injections.
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