The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are tracking a newly identified highly mutated novel coronavirus strain, and experts say that if the mutated strain gets off the ground, the evolution of the virus could be the next big thing. He warned that he could make a leap forward.
The WHO on Thursday put BA.2.86 (previously called BA.X and dubbed “Pirolla” by mutant trackers after the asteroid) as “on surveillance”, the lowest of its three alert levels. It was announced that it was certified as a mutant. The “high-flying” variants EG.5, XBB.1.5, and XBB.1.6 are designated as “notable variants” of greater concern. And only Omicron survives as the highest level of alert, “Variant of Concern”.
designated by WHO ＃COVID-19 Mutant BA.2.86 is currently being treated as a “surveillance mutant” due to its large number of mutations.
So far, only a few sequences of this variant have been reported from a small number of countries.
🔗 https://t.co/3tJkDZdY1V— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 17, 2023
Later that day, the CDC was also tracking the variant, announcing that it had been detected in the US state of Michigan, in addition to Israel and Denmark, where it was first reported.
The CDC is tracking new strains of the virus that causes the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This strain he named BA.2.86 was detected in the United States, Denmark, and Israel. The CDC is gathering more information and will share more about this lineage as it becomes available.
— CDC (@CDCgov) August 18, 2023
And on Friday, the UK Health and Safety Agency announced that a variant had been confirmed in the UK and that it was “assessing the situation”. The patient with BA.2.86 is elderly and hospitalized, said Raj Rajinarayanan, assistant director and associate professor of research at the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and a leading authority on novel coronavirus variant tracing. said Mr. luck.
Cases of COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 have been confirmed in the UK and many other countries. Deputy Director Dr Meera Chand said: “We are aware that BA.2.86 has been detected in the UK. UKHSA is assessing the situation and will provide further information in due course.”
— UK Health and Safety Agency (@UKHSA) August 18, 2023
Unlike most circulating variants that evolved from Omicron Spawn XBB, BA.2.86 is a much earlier strain of Omicron that circulated in early 2022, BA.2, or possibly the original Omicron, BA. It is believed to have evolved from 1.1. .529, the number of infected people surged to a record high from the end of 2021 to the beginning of 2022.
And unlike most other variants in the wild, it seems to differ significantly from its predecessor. So far, the most widely circulated mutant strains feature a small number of mutations that are slightly different from the last one, usually a little more contagious.
On the other hand, BA.2.86 has more than 30 mutations that distinguish it from earlier Omicrons, and this mutation has the potential to change it significantly. become more immune evasivecan potentially make cells more susceptible to infection, according to Jesse Blooma computational biologist and top mutation tracker at the Fred Hatch Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington.
So BA.2.86 is different from other Omicron strains, just as the first Omicron was from a novel coronavirus strain discovered in Wuhan in 2019. Mr Bloom claims.
For this reason, ‘Pilola’ could be the next variant that the WHO gives a Greek letter to. Probably Pi, hence the nickname.
Ryan Gregory, professor of biology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, said, “What makes this mutant different from many other omicron submutants is that it exhibits a large number of mutations, much more than we normally see. It’s about being there,” he said. luck. Since the WHO stopped assigning new Greek letters with Omicron, he has assigned “street names” to the high-flying variants.
As of late Friday, only 6 sequences of this variant had been confirmed in 4 countries (Denmark, UK, US and Israel), and their numbers are increasing, but global sequencing remains limited. It’s the lowest ever.
Regarding BA.2.86: @SolidEvidence Using the word “avalanche” doesn’t bode well.
And here are over 30 Δ spike mutations (BA.2.86 vs XBB.1.5). @RajlabN https://t.co/8UucaWlOaWhttps://t.co/m239bcQ2TB pic.twitter.com/f5f6at0iRO— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) August 18, 2023
“It’s quite likely that it won’t be detected in some other countries,” Gregory said.
Can BA.2.86 compete with major variants?
Two main questions remain. How would the sheer number of mutations in this mutant affect disease development, and whether it would regrow legs?
The geographic spread of the small number of cases and their striking similarities suggest a possible rapid increase, said Ryan Hizner, the top variant tracker who discovered the Danish cases. tweeted on thursday.
Even if the epidemic spreads rapidly, it may not result in increased hospitalizations or deaths, said Stuart Ray, Ph. Point out.
BA.2.86 is “substantially different” from other known circulating variants, but “it is unclear whether it will have a significant impact on the number of severe cases and management and prevention strategies,” he said. luck.
It’s unclear how well the new XBB.1.5 coronavirus vaccine, which is due to go on sale in the United States in September, will work against variants, but Bloom said immunity is broader than just antibodies, and variants are still unknown. It points out that it will be possible to escape from immunity to the extent of simply.
“Even if a new, highly mutated subspecies like BA.2.86 begins to spread, moth people have some immunity to the new coronavirus, so we can’t wait until 2020 or 2021.” We’re in a much better position than we were,” he said. widely referenced presentations he posted online.
This is a story in development and will be updated.
